Senator Manchin clarifies he hasn’t threatened to leave Democrat Party

Senator Joe Manchin recently clarified to The Hill in an interview that he plans to stay in the Democrat Party.

This in response to a Mother Jones scoop yesterday where it was said Manchin would be happy to declare himself an "American Independent" if Democrats were incapable of downsizing Biden’s infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion down to $1.75 trillion USD.

The Senator from West Virginia has been one of the main roadblocks for Democrats passing Biden’s agenda, and has personally stumped in favor of downsizing the cost of the infrastructure proposals.

This dynamic is emphasized in a described clash between Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Manchin as reported by Axios.

The distinction between The Hill and Mother Jones is largely why Manchin would’ve left the Democrat Party: for the better of the group versus a personal gain in the long run.

Senator Manchin told The Hill: "What is true is that I have told the president, Chuck Schumer, and even the whole caucus that if it is ‘embarrassing’ to them to have a moderate, centrist Democrat in the mix and if it would help them publicly, I could become an Independent — like Bernie — and then they could explain some of this to the public saying it’s complicated to corral these two Independents, Bernie and me."

The likes of Joe Manchin are seemingly more powerful than even Joe Biden in the halls of Congress because of the 50 - 50 split between Republicans and Democrats. As a gauge of relevancy, the President last month invited both Manchin and Sen. Sinema to the White House late last month in an effort to woo them over.

It has even been a point of contention as immigrant activists weeks ago cornered Senator Sinema in a school bathroom at her private job as a lecturer over the substance of recent Congressional infrastructure bill debates.

Senator Manchin previously broke ranks with Democrats when it came to the issue of giving Washington DC statehood.