Former Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin has a message for the party he served for decades: When it comes to President Donald Trump’s victory, get over it.
In an interview with Katty Kay of the BBC, the former Democrat-turned-Independent senator said his former party needs to work with the president because he is the leader of the nation.
“[Trump] is the leader of our country. Why would you not work with him? Just because he’s a different party? Didn’t vote for him? That’s not a reason,” Manchin, who was able to be elected time and again as a Democrat in the deep Republican state of West Virginia, said.
“I want Donald Trump to succeed,” Manchin, who switched his party to Independent before retiring, said. “I want to help wherever I can help. I want to give them my experience of the mistakes I have made that we shouldn’t make again.
During his time in office, Manchin was known for giving blunt criticism of his own party, a practice he has continued since retiring.
Manchin gave his opinion on the situation involving illegal immigrant MS-13 gang member Kilmar Ábrego García, 29, who was deported to his home nation of El Salvador.
The 77-year-old former Democrat said if he were a Republican strategist, he would sit back and allow the Democrats to keep fighting to bring back Garcia, who had a restraining order against him in 2021 for domestic abuse.
“The Democrats are saying, ‘what a horrible situation.’…They’re making more of a case out of this one person who’s an illegal immigrant being sent out of the country that could have been tied to a gang…if I’m a Republican strategist, I am going to keep quiet and just let you all go on,” he said.
And when it comes to his crackdown on illegal immigration, tariffs, and other actions he has taken, Manchin said the only people complaining are the people he defeated because President Trump is keeping his promises.
“He’s doing exactly what he said. People shouldn’t be all upset,” he said. “The people who are upset right now lost. This is the system.”
The Democrats, he believes, should focus on the national debt.
