Pete Buttigieg downplayed any White House beef with Sen. Joe Manchin. It is another sign that the Biden administration is trying to win over the West Virginia Democrat who has been a thorn in the side of the president.
Buttigieg said on The Breakfast Club that poking someone in the eye isn't going to help you get the result you want.
The show's co-hosts pressed Buttigieg on why the White House isn't doing more to push Manchin and Sinema. If Donald Trump was still president, he would have had a million names for Manchin and Sinema.
Buttigieg said that it didn't really get him his way. It got us all talking about it, but did it help move the agenda?
As Democrats seem poised to renew talks with Manchin about Biden's domestic agenda for what could be the last time, Buttigieg's comments come as well. The Democratic holdout floated a summer deadline to pass a slimmer social and climate spending bill without committing to it.
After the Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Manchin was unsure if he could reach an agreement.
At times, Biden and Manchin have had a testy relationship. One of Manchin's closest friends said that he was not happy with the December White House statement. Manchin went on Fox News and killed Biden's climate and spending plan.
The Washington Post reported that Manchin was angry with the White House chief of staff and that staffers pushed Biden to be more liberal than he really wanted to be.
In an evenly split Senate, Biden cannot afford to lose the support of Manchin in the face of Republican opposition. Buttigieg pointed out that Manchin, Sinema, and 19 Senate Republicans worked with the administration to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure plan.
There are 99 other senators, by the way, from a state that Donald Trump won by 40 points. There is a unified, uniform, Republican opposition to many of the things we are trying to do like extending the child tax credit.
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