REVEALED: Manchin's private $1.8trillion Build Back Better offer to Biden included free pre-K for 10 years, Obamacare expansion and hundreds of billions in climate investment - but NO child tax credits
Rebel Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin made a counteroffer to the White House last week on what he would accept in President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Manchin pitched universal pre-K for 10 years, an expansion of Obamacare and hundreds of billions in climate investment.
What the offer didn't include was an extension of Biden's expanded child tax credits, which soured the deal with the White House.
The Huffington Post reported that Manchin told several of his fellow Democrats that his objection to the child tax credit stemmed from a belief that parents would waste the money on drugs.
Manchin's Communications Director Sam Runyon told DailyMail.com that the senator supports the child tax credit.
'Senator Manchin has made clear he supports the child tax credit and believes the money should be targeted to those who need it most. He has also expressed support for a paid leave program that has a dedicated, sustainable funding mechanism,' Runyon said.
He did not address the allegations in the Huffington Post report.
Democratic Sen. Joe Biden made an offer to the White House last week on what he'd vote for in terms of a Build Back Better bill, but it didn't include an extension of President Joe Biden's child tax credits
On Monday, Manchin tore into White House staff and his fellow Democrats, blaming them for his decision not to support the bill.
He accused Democrats of badgering him and beating 'the living crap' out of him as they tried to get his vote. And he said White House staff know the 'real reason' he said he wouldn't vote for Biden's $1.75 trillion package of social safety net programs.
'They know the real reason what happened. They won't tell you, and I'm not going to,' Manchin told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval about Biden's staff.
Manchin and Democrats have been playing the blame game since he announced on Fox News Sunday that he would vote 'no' on the bill, which was seen as a death knell to the legislation.
In the radio interview, the senator from West Virginia was careful not to blame President Biden, who had spoken personally to Manchin several times last week. But his strong words about Biden's staff indicate relations are not good between him and the White House.
'It's not the president,' Manchin said. 'It's the staff. And they drove some things and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is. And that's it.'
He said he was at his 'wit's end' but he didn't specify what exactly drove him to that point.
After Manchin's shocking announcement he was against the bill, it was White House press secretary Jen Psaki who put out a statement slamming the senator. The president reportedly approved the harsh wording.
Manchin also had tough words for Democratic leaders. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi had personally negotiated with him.
'They figured surely to God we can move one person. Sure that we can badger and beat one person up. Surely we can get enough protestors to make that person uncomfortable enough they'll just say 'okay i'll vote for anything' just quit,' he said, referencing protesters who swarmed his houseboat on the Potomac River and waited for him outside the Capitol building.
'I'm from West Virginia. I'm not from where they're from and they can't just beat the living crap out of people and think they'll be submissive. Period,' he added.
After Manchin said he was a 'no' vote on Build Back Better, White House press secretary Jen Psaki put out a statement where she essentially called Manchin a 'liar'
President Joe Biden returned to the White House on Monday after spending the weekend in Wilmington, Delaware
Psaki, in her blistering statement, noted Manchin has been in negotiations with the administration up to the point he announced his opposition to the bill.
She said Manchin's comments on Fox 'represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator's colleagues in the House and Senate.'
Manchin on Monday shrugged off her statement, where she essentially called him a liar.
'I figured they'd come back strong,' he said.
He also hinted Democrats, many of whom harshly criticized him in the wake of his Sunday announcement, could drive him from the party.
'I'm fiscally responsible and socially compassionate,' Manchin said when asked if there's still a place for him in the Democratic Party.
'Now, if there's no Democrats like that, then they have to push me wherever they want me,' he added.
Manchin won re-election in 2018 by four points. He is up again in 2024. In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump beat Biden in the state by 39 points.
The senator from West Virgina also chided Democrats for acting like they had a majority in the 50-50 Senate. In the evenly split body, Biden needed every Democratic vote to pass his signature legislation.
'This is a 50-50 Senate. You all are approaching legislation as if you had 55 or 60 senators or Democrats, and you can do whatever you want. Well, you know what, we're all a little bit diverse. I said, I'm not a Washington Democrat,' he said.
He also wouldn't commit to accepting a scaled-back version of Biden's social safety net program.
Manchin was also said to be furious at a Thursday statement from the White House where Biden conceded his legislation was stalled in the Senate and named Manchin three times.
He hinted at his fury when reporters on Capitol Hill asked if he agreed with the statement.
'That was his statement,' he said Thursday of Biden.
Manchin did not inform Biden of his decision to vote no.
Less than 30 minutes before his announcement, one of his aides was told to give the White House and congressional leadership a heads up, Politico's Playbook reported.
'We tried to head him off,' a senior White House official said, claiming Manchin 'refused to take a call from White House staff' before the interview.
Biden returned to the White House Monday morning after spending the weekend in Wilmington. He and Democratic leaders will be debating next steps, including the possiblity of retooling his signature legislation yet again to get Manchin's vote.
The Build Back Better plan already saw its topline number cut in half - much to the frustration of progressives in the party - in order to garner Manchin's support.
Senator Joe Manchin had tough words for Democratic leaders. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi had personally negotiated with him
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin effectively killed BBB on Sunday when he said: 'I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there. This is a no'
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December 21, 2021
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