Mitch McConnell: Manchin is 'certainly welcome' to join the GOP


If Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) feels particularly outcast by the Build Back ire of his fellow Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and co. would "certainly" welcome the West Virginia lawmaker to their side of the aisle, McConnell told Fox's Guy Benson on Monday.
"He doesn't fit well over there," McConnell said of Manchin and his party affiliation, "but that is a decision ultimately that he has to make. We certainly welcome him to join us if he was so inclined."
McConnell also told Benson he was "shocked at the vitriol" in response to Manchin's now-infamous opposition to the current version of President Biden's Build Back Better legislation, which Democrats were hoping to pass before the end of the year.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Basically it seemed to me that they were calling Sen. Manchin a liar. I think that was not smart. This is a 50-50 Senate. It's going to be 50-50 for another year, and believe me, this is not how I would handle a disappointing vote like that," said the minority leader.
But don't get it twisted — he's certainly not upset at the thought of the president's bill continuing to languish on Capitol Hill.
"It was an exciting thing to hear," McConnell said of Manchin's opposition. "It was a great shot in the arm for the country. I think it's exactly what the country needed at this particular time."
And as for where things are headed following next year's "very significant" midterm elections, McConnell is feeling particularly optimistic about the GOP regaining control of Congress.
"We should, in all likelihood, flip both the House and the Senate to the Republican Party," McConnell predicted. Democrats are in "very, very tough shape, politically. I don't see how that gets much better," he said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
France and Indonesia promote a contentious bid for an Israel-Palestine two-state solution
Talking Points Both countries have said a two-state solution is the way to end the Middle East conflict
-
Film reviews: Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Lilo & Stitch, and Final Destination: Bloodlines
Feature Tom Cruise risks life and limb to entertain us, a young girl befriends a destructive alien, and death stalks a family that resets fate's toll.
-
Music reviews: Morgan Wallen and Kali Uchis
Feature "I'm the Problem" and "Sincerely"
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges
-
Germany lifts Kyiv missile limits as Trump, Putin spar
speed read Russia's biggest drone and missile attacks of the war prompted Trump to post that Putin 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!'
-
Tied Supreme Court blocks church charter school
speed read The court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders
-
Judge scolds DOJ over Newark mayor arrest
speed read Ras Baraka was arrested during a May 9 surprise visit to a migrant detention facility
-
Trump lectures South Africa president on 'white genocide'
speed read Trump has cut off aid to South Africa over his demonstrably false genocide claims
-
Trump twists House GOP arms on megabill
speed read The bill will provide a $350 billion boost to military and anti-immigration spending and 'cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs'