Harris dodges whether Manchin, Sinema are allies or opponents to Biden: I won't enter 'internal firing squad'

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Vice President Kamala Harris did not offer a firm defense of her former colleagues Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V. and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., during an interview that aired Friday on MSNBC. 

"ReidOut" host Joy Reid pointed to recent NBC News polling offering a grim forecast for President Biden and Democrats ahead of the November midterm elections, citing a double-digit enthusiasm gap with Republicans in the lead because "many in the Democratic base don't feel that they've gotten what they voted for."

However, Reid appeared to place the blame away from the Biden administration. 

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"One of the reasons for that is that Sen. Joe Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema have stood in the way of extending the child tax credit, have stood in the way of increasing the minimum wage, have stood in the way of many of, you know, the Build Back Better bill, have stood in the way of passing voting rights," Reid said. 

"Are Senators Manchin and Sinema, in view of the White House, are they allies of this administration or they opponents?" Reid asked. 

Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. (Getty Images/Reuters)

Harris responded by giving a long-winded non-answer, keeping the focus squarely on Republicans. 

"Not one Republican voted for the American Rescue Plan," Harris told Reid. "Not one voted when were extending the child tax credit…" 

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She later continued. "When we look at what we achieved in terms of putting in place a system around getting vaccines from people, so now, over 200 … million people have been vaccinated in our country. And as a result, we've been able to reopen our schools, 99% of them are reopened, businesses are reopening. These are the achievements that are made possible in spite of the fact that not one Republican in so many of these policies voted. So I'm not going to get caught up in kind of an internal firing squad when you got to look at the fact that if we're talking about party politics, you've got a system where you also have an entire group of people who I believe have diverse interests and needs but are for some reason falling in line behind a party instead of behind a policy that actually is in the best interest of their constituents."

Vice President Kamala Harris.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Progressives have long been critical of Manchin and Sinema throughout the Biden presidency, accusing them of stalling the White House's agenda.

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In January, Reid accused the two senators of not caring about poor people, declaring them the "absolute worst." She previously deemed them part of the "no progress caucus."