James Carville Goes to Bat for Manchin: People ‘B*tching’ About Him Can’t See ‘Political Reality’

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Prominent Democratic operative James Carville defended Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) in a Vox interview published on Thursday as Manchin has come under fire from progressives for not getting behind the Democratic Party on the Build Back Better legislation and for voting, alongside Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Republican senators, against changing the filibuster to pass Democratic-led voting legislation.

In a Q&A, writer Sean Illing asked Carville if he has “any substantive criticisms of Manchin and [thoughts about] his opposition to something like expanding the child tax credit … or his position on the filibuster.”

Carville responded:

Look, the child tax credit is extraordinary. We’ve reduced child poverty in this country by 40 percent. It’s unbelievable. And I just keep trying and trying to win elections because this thing is enormously successful. But I’ll just keep saying it: If we don’t have Sen. Manchin, we’re going to have somebody really, really, really extreme in his seat.

Look, I’m a liberal Democrat. Always have been. But some of these people bitching about Manchin can’t see political reality straight. Six percent of adults in this country identify as “progressive.” Only 11 or 12 percent of Democrats identify as progressive. So let’s just meet in the middle and say something like 7 or 8 percent of the country agrees with the progressive left. This ain’t a goddamn debate anymore. Someone like Manchin is closer to the mainstream than a lot of these people think, and pretending like he isn’t won’t help the cause.