McConnell says Manchin would feel 'a lot more comfortable on our side'

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Mitch McConnell: Manchin would get respect in GOP

Senate Minority Leader discusses Manchin rift in Democratic Party, the future of Biden's social spending plan, and 2022 midterms on 'America Reports.'

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Fox News Wednesday that Republicans would welcome Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., with open arms if he chose to switch parties, adding that he thinks the West Virginia Democrat would be "a lot more comfortable on our side."

"A good solution to his problem would be to come across the aisle and join us," McConnell said in an appearance on "America Reports." "He would be treated with respect and find himself in agreement with the party he was caucusing with most of the time."

FILE - President Trump embraces Sen. Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, after speaking during the State of the Union Address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2018. (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Rumors of a Manchin party switch have rippled through Washington following his vow to vote down President Biden’s signature Build Back Better bill. If Manchin were to switch parties and become a Republican, it would give the GOP control of the Senate with a slim 51-senator majority.

MITCH MCCONNELL SAYS HE’D WELCOME MANCHIN TO THE GOP IF HE WAS SO ‘INCLINED’

"He gave the American people the Christmas gift they needed," McConnell said. "He killed this bill in its current form, which would have been really bad for America, exactly the wrong kind of prescription for the rampant inflation that we are suffering already."

Asked if he had spoken to the Democratic senator on the possibility of moving across the aisle, McConnell said, "He’s never indicated he is willing to do it."

"He’s been a lifelong Democrat. I don’t expect this to happen," he acknowledged. "But if it did, it would be a positive thing for him and the country because we still have moderates on the Republican side of the aisle."

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks at a press conference outside his office on Capitol Hill on October 06, 2021 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

As for what's holding Manchin back, the Kentucky Republican said, "This is a conversation we have had with him over the years."

"He is in a very red state…he is trying to exist in today’s Democratic Party which is very hard," McConnell said. "The Democratic Party today is the party of Bernie Sanders. They want to turn America into a socialist country. No wonder Joe Manchin is uncomfortable on the Democratic side of the aisle … he’d be a lot more comfortable on our side, but that’s a better question to ask him."

Shifting to next year's midterm elections, McConnell predicted a "dramatic" victory for the GOP.

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"We have a 50-50 Senate now. I think the environment for a midterm correction is going to be dramatic, and I think there is a great likelihood the House will flip and high likelihood the Senate will as well," he said.

"The good thing about that for the American people is that will ensure that President Biden for the last two years of his term is indeed the moderate he claimed to be when he ran for president."