Manchin confidant: Biden White House's incivility was last straw on Build Back Better

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In media news today, liberal pundits react to Manchin’s ‘no’ on Build Back Better, Nicholas Sandmann reaches a settlement with NBC after Covington Catholic controversy, and Kamala Harris’ interview with Charlamagne Tha God gets heated.

A media confidant of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., wrote Monday that White House incivility toward Manchin contributed strongly to why he torpedoed President Biden's Build Back Better bill.

Steve Clemons, The Hill's editor-at-large and a longtime Washington journalist and friend of Manchin, wrote that both sides had agreed to refrain from finger-pointing as they negotiated on Biden's $1.75-trillion social policy and climate package, but a White House statement last week that singled out Manchin by name and also discussed "fierce Republican opposition" was a strategic mistake.

"I know Manchin. He believes in civility above all things," Clemons wrote. "When I saw Manchin’s name in the presidential statement, I knew he would perceive it as a breach of process, a breach of spirit, a breach of Joe and Joe working this out so that politicians from Scranton and Charleston could find a way to align with those from Brooklyn and San Francisco."

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 12: Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., talks with reporters after a vote in the Capitol on Thursday, September 12, 2019. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) __ U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a meeting during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images  |  REUTERS/Yves Herman)

Clemons said it went as far as putting Manchin's family at further risk, pointing to incidents where left-wing activists badgered him about his stance on the bill. In the statement, Biden said he briefed congressional Democratic leaders on his discussions with Manchin and that he believed they could bridge their differences.

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"Given the protests that Manchin’s family has experienced at his home, which is a boat in Washington Harbor — with folks harassing him, his wife and grandson by kayak around his boat and the gate to the marina — I knew this presidential statement was personalizing the game," Clemons wrote. "It put his family at risk, in my view. Everyone knows Manchin and [Arizona Senator Kyrsten] Sinema are the two Democrats the White House must negotiate with because it has given up on Republicans — but to specify Manchin in a presidential statement meant the terms of the dealmaking had changed."

The White House was apparently unsurprised by Manchin's stated opposition to the bill, and Senate Democrats had already said they would shelve it until 2022. However, Clemons said Biden had erred in his negotiating strategy with his old friend Manchin.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., walks past reporters after attending a lengthy Democratic Caucus meeting as the Senate continues to grapple with end-of-year tasks at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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"How could the White House not know that getting uncivil with Manchin — who believes in civility even with his biggest antagonists, who had a three-hour dinner with progressive leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and then spoke publicly about how valuable it was to know her better than he did previously — would be so destructive?" Clemons wrote.

"When tempers cool after the holidays, perhaps the White House will see that with Manchin, temperament matters. He has said repeatedly that there are lots of areas of Build Back Better he supports but that every key part of the bill must be funded without gimmicks," he added.
 

Manchin announced on "Fox News Sunday" that he was a "no" on the bill, effectively killing it with all 50 Senate Republicans also in opposition. He pointed to the bill's massive costs amid record inflation, national debt, and the ongoing pandemic, among other issues. The White House wasn't able to definitively say Monday that all 49 other Democrats were firmly behind the legislation, however.

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"I've done everything humanly possible," Manchin told Fox's Bret Baier.

 Liberal Democrats and media members erupted on Manchin, who was also the subject of a scathing statement from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. She accused him of misrepresenting his positions and breaching prior commitments he made to Biden and fellow Democrats.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House November 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Manchin criticized White House staffers on Monday in an interview on MetroNews Talkline for retaliating against him after he said he wouldn't support the bill, and he also blamed the White House "staff" for recent news reports about him, saying they were being "driven" by the president’s staffers and that he understands it is not Biden’s doing.

"This is staff. And they drove some things, and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable," Manchin said. "And they know what it is. And that's it."

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Fox News' Houston Keene contributed to this report.