Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) had some choice words for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on his efforts to unify Democrats against President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Manchin told Politico on Friday that Schumer has no power over support for Kavanaugh’s nomination.
“I’ll be 71-years-old in August; you’re going to whip me? Kiss my you know what,” Manchin, referring to Schumer’s efforts to whip up the votes against Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, told Politico in an interview.
Shortly after Trump announced Kavanaugh as his pick for the Supreme Court, Schumer released a statement saying, “I will oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have” and urged his Democrat colleagues to do the same.
Senate Democrats would need at least two Republican votes to block Trump’s Supreme Court pick, but some Democrats are still undecided about whether to oppose Kavanaugh without fully reviewing his credentials.
Some red state Democrats still on the fence about whether to oppose Kavanaugh, such as Manchin and Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), cited the need to balance supporting their party and ensuring their chances at re-election. Both Manchin and Donnelly are up for re-election in the 2018 midterms.
“My decision won’t have anything to do with Chuck Schumer,” Donnelly told Politico.
The red state Democrat senators’ indecision on Kavanaugh has caused a civil war within the Democratic Party, especially among far left-wing advocacy groups, over how to oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
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