Former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., expressed his desire for Republicans to win the Senate last year to thwart Democrats’ pursuit of “raw political power.”
In his upcoming book, “Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense,” scheduled for release on Tuesday and obtained by Fox News Digital, Manchin criticizes his former Democratic Party, former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, while praising his rapport with President Donald Trump.
Manchin gained attention when he and former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who also transitioned to Independent, defied Schumer by voting against the elimination of the Senate filibuster in 2022.
He recounted the pressure he faced from Schumer and Senate Democrats to conform on crucial votes throughout Biden’s presidency.
According to Manchin, Schumer sought a vote to demonstrate his loyalty to the radical left, claiming that the then-Senate majority leader did not genuinely support abolishing the filibuster, but rather aimed to fulfill his “only priority” of retaining Senate control.
“Because of what I knew — and what I had seen firsthand — I wanted Republicans to win the Senate majority in 2024,” Manchin stated. “I believed it was the only hope for preserving the Senate as an institution. I truly believed that, if in power, Republicans would uphold the filibuster, the last guardrail preventing total partisan rule.”
He continued, “Schumer and the Democrats had already shown their hand — eliminating the filibuster would have been their first order of business. They had no interest in protecting the Senate’s role as the deliberative body. They only cared about raw political power.”
Manchin’s reluctance to endorse former Vice President Kamala Harris in her campaign against Trump was also tied to the filibuster debate.
“She knew this was the Holy Grail and the only hope we have to preserve any bipartisanship and maintain our democracy,” he remarked.
He described an early confrontation with Biden during the push for the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which he opposed in the evenly-divided Senate.
Biden reportedly confronted Manchin about his opposition, stating, “If you kill this f— bill, I will never speak to you again.” Manchin reflected on Biden’s notorious temper, calling it “unfortunate,” and he responded, “Your actions are reckless… You’re sending a f— check to everyone.”
Although the legislation eventually passed after a compromise, Manchin later expressed regret for “capitulating on the American Rescue Plan.”
In his book, Manchin also noted that he had a significantly better relationship with Trump, whom he viewed as a fellow “outsider,” compared to Obama, who reached out to him only twice during his presidency.
“From the start, President Trump had an open line of communication with me. I spoke to him more in the first two years of his presidency than I did to President Obama during all eight years of his time in office,” Manchin said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Schumer, Obama, and Biden for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
