‘Come Across the Aisle and Join Us’; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Reaches Across The Aisle To Joe Manchin

It was reported earlier today by Breitbart that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) would be best served by joining the Republican Party during an appearance on FNC’s “America Reports” on Wednesday.

McConnell noted Democrats’ hostile reaction to Manchin for his opposition to Build Back Better and said the West Virginia Democratic lawmaker would be better off caucusing with Senate Republicans.

“[H]e gave the American people the Christmas gift they needed,” McConnell said. “He killed this bill in its current form, which would have been really, really bad for America. Exactly the wrong kind of prescription for the rampant inflation that we’re suffering from already. As a result of what the administration advocated and the Democratic Congress passed earlier this year, we dumped $2 trillion on the American economy, which is a major factor in this huge upsurge in inflation — the biggest inflation increase in 40 years. So I admire what Joe Manchin did. I don’t expect him to give up. I think they’ll keep coming back to him.”

“I’ve suggested a good solution to his problem would be to come across the aisle and join us, where he’d be treated with respect,” he continued. “If you recall, the White House basically called him a liar Sunday. Treat him with respect and find himself in agreement with the party he was caucusing with most of the time.”

The Epoch Times went on to report that Manchin kicked off a panic among Democrats on Dec. 19 when he announced in a Fox News Sunday interview that he would not be giving his crucial support to President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) agenda in the Senate, becoming the 51st senator to openly oppose the bill.

“This is a mammoth piece of legislation and I had my reservations from the beginning,” Manchin told host Brett Bauer.

Despite working with President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “every minute of every day” to make the bill agreeable, Manchin said he simply could not give the almost $2 trillion bill his support.

The announcement sent proponents of the bill into a fit, with several social progressives questioning Manchin’s character and motives.

The progressives suggested that Manchin, who has been in intense negotiations with Biden for months on end, opposed the bill not out of ideological conviction but because he was merely serving special interests and donors.

Others questioned Manchin’s character and sense of honor.

“It’s unfortunate that it seems we can’t trust Sen. Manchin’s word,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement indicative of the general mood among left-wing progressives.

Even the White House suggested that Manchin was a liar, despite Manchin never having affirmatively committed to voting for the massive spending bill.

Amid this vitriolic treatment, people are again wondering if Manchin may switch parties. And Republicans have already started making advances to see whether Manchin could be persuaded to switch.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) became one of the first to raise the olive branch to Manchin. Speaking to an Austin-based radio station Tuesday, Cornyn said that he had texted Manchin about joining the GOP.

“Joe, if they don’t want you, we do,” Cornyn quoted of his one-line text to Manchin. Cornyn admitted during the interview that he hadn’t heard back from the moderate swing-voter.

Now, Minority Leader McConnell, who would quickly become Majority Leader McConnell if Manchin did switch parties, is weighing in on the discussion.

“A good solution to [Manchin’s] problem would be to come across the aisle and join us, where he’d be treated with respect,” McConnell told Fox News.