The senator from Vermont criticized the senator from West Virginia over his opposition to the bill.
During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," the White House said that Manchin would have to explain to the people of West Virginia why he opposed the bill.
The Recount is on December 19, 2021.
He said that he thinks he's going to have to explain to the people of West Virginia why he doesn't have the guts to take on the drug companies. West Virginia is a poor state. Elderly and disabled people want to stay at home. He's going to have to explain to the people of West Virginia why he doesn't want to expand Medicare to cover dental hearing and eyeglasses.
He said that he has been to West Virginia a number of times and that it is a state that is struggling. He's going to have to explain to the people of West Virginia why he's rejecting what the scientists of the world are telling us that we have to act bold and transform our energy system to protect future generations from the devastation of climate change.
The angry man accused Manchin of being out of touch with his own people and ripped into his support of defense budgets increases.
Manchin voted for a huge increase in military spending. The infrastructure bill added $250 billion to the deficit. He said that the military budget is four times higher than the build back better plan.
He said that Mr. Manchin was representing the people of West Virginia. Why don't you do a survey? Can CNN conduct a poll in West Virginia to find out if people want to lower the cost of prescription drugs? You want to know if they want to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and eyeglasses. Manchin told me he would pay for the poll. See how the people of West Virginia feel.
Biden ran on implementing the ambitious Democratic social-spending plan, which included funding for universal pre-K for six years and an expansion of Medicare to cover hearing aids.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill was signed into law by Biden in November. Biden's agenda centered on repairing the nation's transportation network, as well as boosting access to broadband connections and putting into place a network of electric vehicle charging stations.
The legislation was held up in Congress for months due to disagreements about the size and scale of the bill, which was intended to be $6 trillion.
Senate Democrats cut the legislation to $3.5 trillion. After Democrats trimmed the package to appease the fiscal concerns of moderates, it emerged as a $2 trillion framework.
Lawmakers in "The Squad" including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, were concerned about Manchin's motives in the negotiation process.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill was voted against by all but one member of the Democratic House caucus. 13 Republicans crossed over to support the legislation, which angered former President Donald Trump.
Pressley said on "State of the Union" that her lack of trust in Manchin made her oppose the bipartisan legislation and resulted in her "no" vote.
She told Tapper that her lack of trust was about Manchin. The goal post has been moved. He is obstructing the President's agenda by not negotiating in good faith.
She said that we cannot allow one senator from West Virginia to obstruct the agenda.
