Yahoo Movies Chris Wallace Asks Joe Manchin If He's 'Enjoying' His Power 'A Little Too Much'
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Sunday grilled Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia, on his emergence as a key swing vote in the Senate, asking if Manchin was enjoying his “position of power a little too much.”
“Do you like being the most powerful member of Congress, the swing vote in a 50/50 Senate? Do you like that, sir?” Wallace asked on “Fox News Sunday.”
“No, I do not and I did not lobby for this, did not seek it out,” Manchin said. “The bottom line is I am who I am and I have always been that person.”
Wallace noted that Manchin’s support is pivotal for a number of Democratic initiatives, including ending the Senate filibuster, expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court and increasing the minimum wage to $15.
On Friday, Manchin stalled the passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill in the Senate, forcing Democrats to tweak the package’s unemployment provisions before it passed on party lines on Saturday.
Chris Wallace: "You could talk about the moderate middle. Do you like being the most powerful member of Congress, the swing vote in a 50/50 Senate, do you like that sir?"
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): "No I do not. And I did not lobby for this, did not seek it out." pic.twitter.com/0zgwbvY5BP— The Recount (@therecount) March 7, 2021
“You are on four Sunday shows today, and the question I have is, are you enjoying your position of power maybe a little too much?” Wallace asked.
“I sure hope not,” Manchin said. “Oh, my goodness. That would be horrible. That’s not, no. I want to make sure people understand. I am in that common-sense middle. That’s who I am.”
“I’m not taking advantage of any moment at all,” he added.
Manchin went on to say that he opposes abolishing the filibuster, but is open to reforming it .
“I’m supporting the filibuster,” he said. “I’m going to continue to support the filibuster. It think it defines who we are as a Senate. I’ll make it harder to get rid of it but it should be painful if you want to use it.”
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
