Maddow Claims Manchin Was ‘Feeding the Prospect’ That BBB Would Pass to ‘Keep the Attention on Himself’

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is suggesting that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) did not announce his opposition to Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act because he “enjoyed all the attention” he received by keeping the door to voting for it open.

On Monday, Maddow said, “It has felt like Senator Manchin has been sort of feeding the prospect that this would pass and that he could get to yes just enough to keep the attention on himself. And I don’t mean to speak derogatorily of him in personal terms.”

“But it has felt like he’s just enjoyed all the attention. He’s enjoyed being asked every day. He’s enjoyed all of the tea leaf reading about his feelings,” she added.

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Democrats were hoping to use the budget reconciliation process to advance the spending package. That would have required all 50 Democrats to vote for it, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.

Without Manchin’s support, the bill would fail to pass the Senate.

For months, the West Virginia senator negotiated the details of the bill. As The Guardian noted in October, Manchin “always insisted he is not against Biden’s desire to enact social reforms, but balks at the $3.5 cost and has indicated he would be comfortable with $1.5 .”

During the course of the negotiations, reporters and commentators parsed Manchin’s comments and peppered him with questions about where he stood on the bill.

The price tag of the bill was eventually slashed to $1.75 trillion. However, Manchin raised concerns that Democrats were using budget gimmicks to hide the true cost of the bill.

On Sunday, Manchin told Fox News, “I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation, I just can’t. I tried everything humanly possible, I can’t get there.”

“This is a no, on this legislation,” he added.