Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was roasted on social media after he said Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) “cannot be allowed to defeat” what most Democrats in the House and Senate “want.”
On Friday morning, the Vermont senator argued, “2 senators cannot be allowed to defeat what 48 senators and 210 House members want. We must stand with the working families of our country. We must combat climate change.”
“We must delay passing the Infrastructure Bill until we pass a strong Reconciliation Bill,” he added.
2 senators cannot be allowed to defeat what 48 senators and 210 House members want. We must stand with the working families of our country. We must combat climate change. We must delay passing the Infrastructure Bill until we pass a strong Reconciliation Bill.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 1, 2021
However, social media users quickly pointed out that his math did not constitute a majority of lawmakers in either chamber.
Check out reactions below:
Bernie thinks 48 senators should be allowed to defeat 52 senators https://t.co/ouTanDZeWh
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) October 1, 2021
https://twitter.com/NickAPappas/status/1443927645473886213
Um the Senate has 100 members and the House has 435 members. So Bernie is saying that 48% of the Senate and House should now make policy. Which is pretty good news for Republicans, who have 50 seats in the Senate and 212 seats in the House, I guess! https://t.co/hQ89k7MNwe
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 1, 2021
This is hilarious.
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 1, 2021
By Bernie's own math, 48 senators and 210 House members are minorities in both chambers. https://t.co/mu8bi2tPTs
This is a very weird tweet, since what Sanders is really saying here is that 52 senators cannot be allowed to defeat what 48 senators want. https://t.co/mdKVirG0Ge
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) October 1, 2021
52 senators can, in fact, defeat 48 https://t.co/MSD1syUhvF
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) October 1, 2021
Sanders’ tweet comes after the House once again postponed a vote on a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package as moderates and progressives failed to reach a deal on a separate $3.5 trillion spending package.
Progressives have demanded that Congress pass the larger spending package, and have threatened to sink the infrastructure bill unless it was accompanied by the larger spending package.
The Senate passed the infrastructure bill in August, but the House has not passed either piece of legislation.
Senate Democrats are hoping to use budget reconciliation to pass the spending bill with just 51 votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. The Senate is divided 50-50, which means all 50 Democrats would have to vote for the legislation for it to pass.
However, Manchin and Sinema have both expressed opposition to voting for a bill that has a $3.5 trillion price tag.
“I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March,” Manchin said in a statement on Wednesday. Additionally, he called the spending in the bill “the definition of fiscal insanity.”
And in a statement on Thursday, Sinema reiterated her opposition to a $3.5 trillion package.
Without either of their votes, the legislation would not pass the Senate.