During a back and forth with reporters at the White House Tuesday, President Joe Biden said Democratic Senator Joe Manchin admitted to misleading the progressive flank of the party on Capitol Hill.
"Mr. President, you often talk about the importance of keeping your word of trust. Do you believe Senator Manchin kept his word to you? And how do you rebuild trust with progressives in your party to advance your legislation now?" a reporter asked.
"You know, I told you before, you've heard me say this before: Some people think maybe I’m not Irish because I don’t hold a grudge. Look, I want to get things done. I still think there's a possibility of getting Build Back Better done," Biden replied. "What I don't want to do is get into, and Joe went on TV today and, I don’t know if it was TV or not; I'm told he was speaking to the liberal caucus in the House and said, “Joe Biden didn't mislead you, I misled you.'"
Apparently, Biden made up the quote from Manchin and his staff is now attempting to run clean up on the remarks.
After Biden said today that Manchin "was speaking to a liberal caucus in the House and said 'Joe Biden didn't mislead you, I misled you,'" the White House follows up: "The President wanted to clarify that Senator Manchin did not characterize himself as having been ‘misleading.'
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) December 21, 2021
Interesting use of "clarify." https://t.co/kgkt0hzaJb
— Brit Hume (@brithume) December 22, 2021
Meanwhile, Manchin is standing by his decision to put the brakes on Build Back Better after White House staff engaged in "inexcusable" tactics to get the legislation over the finish line.
MANCHIN: "They figured surely to God we can move 1 person, surely we can badger & beat 1 person up. Surely we get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough they'll just say 'okay, I'll vote for anything and just quit.' Well, guess what? I'm from West Virginia." pic.twitter.com/GX6RTxaP1n
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 20, 2021