Despite their political differences, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., won’t pledge to flatly oppose President Trump’s agenda.
In a Thursday interview with Politico, Manchin, a centrist who voted to confirm several of Trump’s controversial cabinet picks, discussed the pressure he’s faced to obstruct the work of the new administration.
“I had a group come in and I was trying to be as honest as I could,” Manchin said. “I could tell they didn’t want me to be for anything, be against everything, just because President Trump is the president. They didn’t want me to be for anything, be against everything.”
“I cannot be against my country,” the senator insisted, “I wasn’t sent here to do it.”
Manchin, who said this particular group was lobbying him on the environment, enthusiastically supported EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s confirmation.
“I think there’s a balance,” Manchin explained. “I don’t think it’s all one way.”
In the early months of Trump’s presidency, liberal groups have pressured Democrats to oppose his administration at every opportunity. Manchin’s comments suggest President Trump and his allies in Congress can at least count on receiving a fair shake from West Virginia’s first term senator over the next four years.
“Listen,” Manchin says he told members of the liberal group that confronted him, “I think I have a solution to this – you oughta just run against me.”
He’s up for reelection in 2018.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
