Mitch McConnell reportedly threatened to 'crush' Democrat Joe Manchin 'like a grape.' Manchin just hit back, sweetly.


Former White House communications aide Cliff Sims says he's one of the vipers in his new memoir, Team of Vipers, about his 500 days in President Trump's West Wing, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is a snake. At least that was Trump's assessment of McConnell after their first legislative strategy session in February 2017, Sims recounts, according to an excerpt in Politico. The topic of discussion was repealing ObamaCare, and Trump's interest was piqued by "an offhand comment" from McConnell about "doing this without any Democratic votes," Sims writes.
Trump suggested the bill might get support from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), "a friend of mine" from a state he'd just won by 42 points. "Absolutely not," McConnell responded. Manchin will vote no, and "we're going to do everything in our power to beat him when he comes up for re-election in 2018." Trump asked: "Do we have to go after him like that?" And McConnell said yes, "we're going to crush him like a grape."
On Thursday, Manchin — who did vote against the GOP's failed ObamaCare-repeal bill, along with three Republicans, and won re-election in 2018 — made a joke of McConnell's reported threat.
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.
McConnell's statement had a different effect in the Roosevelt Room, Sims writes:
There was a brief silence — maybe a half second — when the atmosphere in the room felt like the scene in Goodfellas when no one can tell how Joe Pesci is going to react to Ray Liotta calling him "funny." Would he freak out? Would he laugh it off? Finally Trump broke the tension. "This guy's mean as a snake!" he said, pointing at McConnell and looking around the room. The entire group burst out laughing. "I like it, though, Mitch." [Team of Vipers, via Politico]
Read the rest of the excerpt at Politico.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play