Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), considered one of the swing-votes in the upper-chamber, on Monday responded to President Donald Trump’s criticism of the lawmaker’s vote to convict him during the Senate impeachment trial last week.
Trump took to Twitter over the weekend to chastise Manchin and Sen. Mitch Romney (R-UT) for voting to convict him of the two articles of impeachment approved by House Democrats along party lines in December — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Romney was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump.
The president called the senator a “puppet Democrat” in a tweet on Saturday and referred to him as “Senator Joe Munchkin” in a subsequent post the following day.
During an appearance on MSNBC Monday morning and later in the day on CNN, Sen. Manchin indicated that he will still try to work with Trump on some items despite the insults leveled against him by the president.
“I still want to work with you. I want you to succeed,” Manchin told CNN, later conceding that some West Virginians are not happy with his vote.
The senator, however, defended his decision, claiming that the impeachment evidence against the president was overwhelming.
Referring to Trump’s insults over his impeachment trial vote, Manchin told MSNBC, “Do you think names bother me? Do I look like I’m small and fragile? Names don’t bother me and the president knows he can’t get to me that way.”
Sen. Manchin told MSNBC he will not “retaliate” against Trump and dismissed the president’s remarks as “immature.”
“He can call me all the names he wants to, it makes him look like an immature adult,” the Democrat senator added. “And I hope he rises above that. I really would. I think it’s best for our country.”
Manchin also responded to Trump’s criticism via Twitter over the weekend.
“Pres. Trump – no Democrat has worked harder in a bipartisan way in the hopes that you would succeed. The people of WV know exactly who has worked day & night for the last 5 years to secure their healthcare & pensions & it wasn’t you,” he wrote on Saturday.
Sen. Manchin joined the rest of his party last week in voting to convict President Trump. Ultimately, the GOP-controlled Senate acquitted Trump of both impeachment articles.