O’Rourke: Manchin, Sinema ‘Will Do the Right Thing,’ End Filibuster to Pass Voting Legislation

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) said Thursday on MSNBC’s “All In” that Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) would “do the right thing” and support ending the filibuster rule to pass voting legislation with a simple majority.

On new voting legislation in Texas, O’Rourke said, “People have given their lives in order to protect and promote the right to vote, and that’s being taken away from our fellow Texans, our fellow Americans at a level not seen since the Voting Rights Act passage in 1965. This is the greatest coordinated attack on democracy we have seen in our lifetimes. And it’s happening right here in Texas, right now, ground zero.”

Guest-host Mehdi Hasan said, “I’m glad you’re describing it in such blunt and direct terms because that leads me to my next question. What do you do about it as a Democratic party? What do you do at a federal level to stop this great threat, this since the 1960s, the biggest threat? Doesn’t this all come down to getting rid of the filibuster? I have to ask you, how can Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, how do they sleep at night knowing SR-1 has to get passed? You need to get rid of the filibuster to pass it, The For the People Act, as quickly as possible to protect Black and Latino people in Texas, in Georgia, in Arizona, and elsewhere.”

O’Rourke said, “In the United States Senate, we need to amend the rules to the filibuster so we can pass democracy bills on a simple majority. Here’s my opinion on the Senators Manchin and Sinema. I believe ultimately they’ll put country over party and put our democracy over any self-interest. They will do the right thing because I think they also understand that this is the single greatest attack on our democracy in their lives. At least in their political lives. And they’re going to do the right thing at the end of the day, but they need to hear from all of us and especially their constituents in West Virginia and Arizona.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN