Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) says he hopes the results of the Virginia governor’s election as well as the New Jersey race serve as a “wake-up call” for lawmakers.
Fox News’s Bret Baier asked Manchin Wednedsay about his view of the elections.
Manchin explained, “I just saw it to confirm that we have a divided country. When you think of two blue states or one state Virginia has been leaning blue and been fairly blue for 10 years. Georgia has always been historically blue. And to see what happened and how close and how divided. Can you imagine 2.2 million votes in New Jersey and 100 to 200 vote separation, how close it was in Virginia.”
He added, “I hope it’s a wake-up call for all of us.”
Baier went on to ask Manchin if the results of the elections encourages him to make sure the reconciliation bill “does no harm to the economy.”
Manchin responded, “Absolutely. I’m concerned. I’ve been talking about our debt, I’ve been talking about inflation, I’ve been talking about the fallout we may have and all of these things.”
When asked about who is to blame for the gas prices, Manchin said the country could be doing more itself.
“Why don’t we do more drilling and why don’t we do more basically production in the United States? I’m not depending on OPEC. I’m not depending on other countries for energy anymore. We know how to do it. We have the technology. We should be relying on ourselves,” he said.
Watch Manchin’s comments below:
The Fox News host noted the congressional progressive caucus in the House stands at 95 members.
He asked Manchin, “Looking at last night and the results of it, what’s the over, under for 2022? Are there more or fewer?”
The senator replied, “They don’t have any chance of getting defeated where they come from. The thing they’re doing is basically changing the dynamics of the moderates that it takes for them to be in the majority, taking it down way low.”
On whether his party has left him, Manchin said, “I’m a West Virginia Democrat, but I don’t know. I don’t know where maybe I belong at times, but I believe I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. And you know what? I have a lot of Democrats who feel the same as I do. I have a lot of Republicans feel the same as I do.”
Glenn Youngkin (R) won the governor’s race in Virginia, defeating Terry McAuliffe, a former governor of Virginia, as IJR reported.