Sen. Ted Cruz slammed his Senate colleague Democrat Joe Manchin, warning that if Republicans lose control of the chamber in January, then Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will “effectively be Senate Majority Leader,” and Manchin will “dutifully obey.”
“This is all theatre,” Cruz tweeted Friday in response to a photo posted by the New York Democrat showing herself glaring at Manchin. “If Dems win GA, Chuck Schumer will be terrified of being primaried from the Left, which means @aoc will effectively be Senate Majority Leader. And Joe Manchin will dutifully obey (like he did on ACB & impeachment). They’re trying to hide this from GA voters.”
This is all theatre.
If Dems win GA, Chuck Schumer will be terrified of being primaried from the Left, which means @aoc willeffectively be Senate Majority Leader. And Joe Manchin will dutifully obey (like he did on ACB & impeachment).
They’re trying to hide this from GA voters. https://t.co/uEyHUyM25g
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 12, 2020
Manchin had originally posted an interview with the Washington Examiner in which he railed against progressives in his party attempting to defund the police and push other far-left policies.
“Defund the police?” Manchin tweeted. “Defund, my butt. I’m a proud West Virginia Democrat. We are the party of working men and women. We want to protect Americans’ jobs & healthcare. We do not have some crazy socialist agenda, and we do not believe in defunding the police.”
Defund the police? Defund, my butt. I’m a proud West Virginia Democrat. We are the party of working men and women. We want to protect Americans’ jobs & healthcare. We do not have some crazy socialist agenda, and we do not believe in defunding the police. https://t.co/EIFHX5OQ37
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) November 11, 2020
Democrats have been squabbling in the days following the 2020 election, with several centrist Democrats expressing frustration over the party losing at least 10 seats to Republicans.
Some, including Rep. Abigail Spanberger, believe the rhetoric from progressive Democrats, including defunding the police, hurt Democrats across the country.
Spanberger on the Dem caucus call: We lost races we shouldn’t have lost.
Defund police almost cost me my race bc of an attack ad.
Don’t say socialism ever again.
Need to get back to basics.
(Is yelling.)— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) November 5, 2020
Members of “the Squad” have rejected that criticism, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who told Politico that “we can’t be silent.”
“We are not interested in unity that asks people to sacrifice their freedom and their rights any longer,” Tlaib said. “And if we truly want to unify our country, we have to really respect every single voice. We say that so willingly when we talk about Trump supporters, but we don’t say that willingly for my Black and brown neighbors and from LGBTQ neighbors or marginalized people.”
