Speaking during a recent appearance on CNN, moderate Democrat West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin tore into his party’s handling of the situation at the southern border, then called for action to fix the crisis before it’s beyond repair. Particularly, he called on President Joe Biden to declare an emergency, thus giving the government a freer hand to fix the dangerous situation.
Those comments came when Sen. Manchin appeared on “CNN News Central,” a daytime news program on the cable channel, on Friday, January 26. During the appearance, he explained how President Joe Biden could declare a national emergency in an attempt to fix the border situation if Congress can’t pass legislation that would fix it.
Speaking on the matter, Sen. Manchin described the utter lack of security at the border as the most dangerous situation facing America, though one that is also very fixable if America sets its mind to actually fixing it. Describing those aspects of the border crisis, Sen. Manchin said, “It’s the most dangerous thing we have, is the border security right now and a lapse of border security. So, we can fix that.”
Continuing, Sen. Manchin admitted that his party is to blame for the disastrous situation at the border, but that he thinks the legislature and political parties generally need to try to fix it rather than bickering about it. He said, “But when you have former President Trump saying, ‘oh, no, we can’t do that, because let’s just go ahead and blame the Democrats.’ Well, the Democrats let this happen. But it’s time to fix it.“
Emphasizing that point, Sen. Manchin argued that it would be wrong to settle into the political trenches and not fix the issue because of political fighting, as the purpose of the political process is to fix issues, not bicker. He said, “So, we can fix this working together. But not to fix it because of politics, it’s not who we are as a country. It’s not what our purpose in Washington is all about.”
But Sen. Manchin didn’t let that call for compromise detract from his comments on how serious the situation is for America. Emphasizing that the current state of things is a real danger, he told CNN and its viewers that it is “dangerous” and a “total crisis.” He said, “The crisis at the border is an absolute, total crisis, and it’s dangerous. And we can fix it.”
Concluding, he called on President Biden to declare a national emergency to fix the issue if Congress can’t, saying, “And if not, I would ask the President, please, Mr. President, declare a national emergency. Don’t let the politics destroy, basically, the border situation and security that we need at that border, and I would hope he would do that.”
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Manchin told Newsweek much the same thing about the border crisis and Biden’s responsibility in a statement, saying, “The President has a responsibility and, I think, an obligation that if Congress cannot, because of politics, consummate a deal, then he has to declare a national emergency. The border is probably the greatest crisis we face right now.”
Emphasizing the danger of the situation in his statement, Sen. Manchin went on to add, “There has to be security and we can’t have this openness with hundreds of thousands of people coming through. It’s dangerous, very dangerous, and it’s a crisis.”
Sen. Manchin’s comments about Trump were likely a reference to the former president’s comments at a Las Vegas rally. During that rally speech, he said, “The so-called border security deal Biden is gushing out and pushing out is not designed to stop illegal immigration. It’s designed to continue the invasion of America while sending billions of dollars to Ukraine and other countries.” He continued, “The fact is that if Joe Biden truly wanted to secure the border, he doesn’t really need a bill. I didn’t need a bill. I did it without a bill. I did it with the current laws. I used Border Patrol.”
Trump added, “There is zero chance I will support this horrible open-border betrayal of America. It’s not going to happen. And I’ll fight it all the way.” He also said, “[The Senate was] getting ready to pass a very bad bill and I’ll tell you what. I’d rather have no bill than a bad bill. And that’s what was happening in the House…[House Speaker Mike Johnson] said it’s dead on arrival in the House. We want either a strong bill or no bill.”
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