Dem Rep. Bowman: Manchin Showed ‘As a White Man,’ That He ‘Doesn’t Care about Black People,’ Latinos, and Women

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) stated that Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) opposition to the Build Back Better reconciliation bill is “an example of Joe Manchin, as a white man, showing that he doesn’t care about black people, he doesn’t care about Latinos, he doesn’t care about immigrants, he doesn’t care about women, and he doesn’t care about the poor.”

Bowman said Manchin and his “special interests, his donors, and lobbyists were cutting the bill for several months. Because they did not want this bill to pass. Why? Because this bill disproportionately supports people of color. It supports people of color. It supports women. It supports children. It supports those who are poor and lifts them out of poverty. Why wouldn’t Manchin want to support that when this would benefit West Virginia tremendously? It’s tremendously frustrating for me, as a black man in America. Because once again, it’s an example of Joe Manchin, as a white man, showing that he doesn’t care about black people, he doesn’t care about Latinos, he doesn’t care about immigrants, he doesn’t care about women, and he doesn’t care about the poor. He is a millionaire and he has the privilege to kick the can down the road and not vote for this bill while the people in my district are suffering. We just buried a 17-year-old who was shot dead in the head a couple of weeks ago. This bill has 2.5 billion for violence prevention. It has universal child care, universal pre-K. It finally deals with the climate issue. The same way black and brown people and women were kept out of the New Deal, Joe Manchin’s trying to keep people out of this bill today and it’s unacceptable and we need to do everything in our power to make sure it passes.”

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