Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin are getting hit with heavy criticism from progressives for their stances on Dems’ voting rights bill and the crisis at the southern border, revealing some major faults within the party.
Manchin is an easy target for his party’s more progressive faction and has once again found himself in their sights after announcing his oppositions to S.1, also known as the “For the People Act.”
His opposition means that just 49 senators support the bill, effectively ending its chances of becoming law even if Democrats had enough votes to scrap the 60-vote threshold.
In an opinion piece in West Virginia’s Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin asserted that the debate over voting rights has become “overtly politicized,” with each party trying to secure a “partisan advantage” instead of actually protecting the right to cast a ballot.
“The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen,” Manchin said, explaining his opposition to his party’s bill and criticizing Republican bills in states that “needlessly restrict voting.”
The intraparty criticism was swift and harsh.
“Manchin’s op-ed might as well be titled, ‘Why I’ll vote to preserve Jim Crow,’” New York Rep. Mondaire Jones said on Twitter.
“Joe Manchin is the new [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell,” New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman said. “And now [he] is doing everything in his power to stop democracy and stop our work for the people.”
Missouri Rep. Cori Bush echoed both of them, accusing Manchin and like-minded Democrats of “actively sabotaging” the party’s agenda and “blocking our progress.”
“Join us in saving lives or get out of the way,” she added.
Even President Joe Biden denounced Manchin and Arizona Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema last week, saying that his agenda has hit a wall, slightly due to their voting “more with my Republican friends.”
