Manchin Puts Fredo in His place on Filibuster, Senate Representation

For a while, CNN Prime Time host Chris “Fredo” Cuomo had been making a stink about Republican representation in the Senate and proving his ignorance of U.S. civics by complaining they had more than they deserved. Well, during an appearance on Wednesday’s show, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D) put the CNN hate-monger in his place by spelling out why Senate didn’t work like the House and how the filibuster was a good tool to protect the minority.

Cuomo started off the show with one of his usual bitter rants railing against the GOP and claiming they were something evil, while also claiming they were the ones stoking an “us and them” mentality.

“And it is time for all of us, especially the Democrats, to realize that they are about to get bitten by the minority party again, and they need to figure out what to do about it,” he demanded.

And using questionable phrasing, he cautioned Democrats “don’t pet the snake” that was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). He then went after President Biden for saying he wanted to work with Republicans on legislation after McConnell blocked a lot of Obama’s agenda. “And you know who knows all of this and yet seems like he is willing to pet the python again? The man who was Obama’s vice president for all of that, President Biden.”

After he finally introduced Manchin, Fredo thought he was going to put the moderate Democrat in a bind by asking: “Do you think that your party is being set up to be fooled again by Mitch McConnell?”

“I don’t think so. I really don’t,” Manchin immediately answered. And from there, the Senator schooled his host on how reasonable the GOP was when it came to consensus on obviously good legislation like opposing hate crimes against Asian-Americans (Click “expand”):

I’ll give you a few examples. The hate crimes bill we just passed two weeks ago 94-1. I don’t think there was a Democrat in the Congress or a senator in Congress, or especially in the Senate, that thought that would pass by 94-1.

We had an amendment process on the floor. I commend Chuck Schumer for allowing the amendments to be on the floor. The Republicans put their amendments up, which would have altered the bill. They fell on those amendments. We voted on the bill in its entirety and it passed.

“And I’ll remind you again, there was every year since Donald Trump was president, every year he tried to pressure my Republican colleagues to get rid of the filibuster…” Manchin added.

At one point, Fredo claimed the only “minority involvement, as envisioned by the founding fathers” was that a minority would be involved in the marking up of a bill. But once again, Manchin schooled Fredo on his ignorance of American civics and the need for equal representation for each of the states:

Robert C. Byrd used to explain to me — cause when I was governor, we would talk and he was a great mentor, great friend. And I said, “Senator, I don’t know much about the Senate. Explain to me why the Senate is so different.” And he said, “Joe, the best way for me to explain it is that why does every state — can you imagine little state of Rhode Island, little state of Connecticut – I mean Delaware, having the same representation in the great body of the Senate as California or New York, all these larger, much larger states, in landmass and population. There’s a reason for that.”

“And I think we have to have a process but also you have to have a minority. If not, then what we have is basically chaos,” he added.

Desperate to score points against Republicans and poke a hole in Manchin’s arguments, Cuomo chided how the Democratic slush fund known as the COVID relief bill didn’t have votes from the right. “We didn’t try,” Manchin declared, dragging his party. “We had some votes so far as in the process we were going through.”

Chris “Fredo” Cuomo’s anti-Republican hatred was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Leaf Filter and Skechers. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.

The transcript is below, click “expand” to read:

CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
May 5, 2021
9:00:41 p.m. Eastern

(…)

CHRIS CUOMO: Look, now we all know the proverb. Okay? And in fact, that former president, George W. Bush, is one of the few Republicans left who get the reality that his party is in a position of doubling down on a bad thing, a toxic tailspin.

And it is time for all of us, especially the Democrats, to realize that they are about to get bitten by the minority party again, and they need to figure out what to do about it. I want you to remember 2010, then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made it clear what his mission was as it pertained to President Obama.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term.

CUOMO: And he meant it. People didn’t believe it. They thought it was just talk. Today, he said it again. What is his mission with respect to President Biden?

MCCONNELL: 100 percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration.

CUOMO: This is why I say, don’t pet the snake. And you know who knows all of this and yet seems like he is willing to pet the python again? The man who was Obama’s vice president for all of that, President Biden. Listen.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: He said that the last administration, Barack, he was going to stop everything. And I was able to get a lot done with him.

CUOMO: Was he? I mean, the President may be right on some essentials, but on the big-ticket items that this President Biden now wants, let’s remind. McConnell killed Obama’s jobs plan. Never happened. Obama’s infrastructure plan, never happened. No to comprehensive immigration reform. Universal background checks, never happened. Even with Aurora, Sandy Hook, Charleston, the Pulse Nightclub tragedy.

He never held a hearing for Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court and refused to fill more than 100 other judgeships. He then flipped the rule when they had power back. And we know what happened with the Supreme Court. And we know what’s happened with the judgeships.

(…)

CUOMO: Now first, not only is he right that you need two parties, but I think it’s time for a real conversation about whether you should have three, four, or five legitimate parties and have more stakeholders in our representative base of government. But that’s not right now. Right now we’re in a crisis.

Biden is right, which is why he and the Democrats need to figure out how to get things done and fast or they will be fooled again. Instead of moving toward compromise, the GOPQ, ReTrumplicans, whatever you want to call them, they’re becoming more intent on us and them, no we. The politics of lie, defy and deny.

(…)

9:06:14 p.m. Eastern

CUOMO: Do you think that your party is being set up to be fooled again by Mitch McConnell?

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I don’t think so. I really don’t. First of all, Chris, it’s always good to be with you. Next of all, I don’t. I’ll give you a few examples. The hate crimes bill we just passed two weeks ago 94-1. I don’t think there was a Democrat in the Congress or a senator in Congress, or especially in the Senate, that thought that would pass by 94-1.

We had an amendment process on the floor. I commend Chuck Schumer for allowing the amendments to be on the floor. The Republicans put their amendments up, which would have altered the bill. They fell on those amendments. We voted on the bill in its entirety and it passed.

I’ll take you clear back to – when was it, 2013 or 2015, I think. No, no, I’m sorry, 2017. John McCain at that time. They were trying to get under President Trump trying to do away with the Affordable Care Act. And they voted that down. Didn’t do it. So, I have confidence and I have faith we will come together. I have faith that democracy will survive.

But it can only survive as the republic that we know here that we live in, is if there is a two-party system, at least a two-party system, but also a Senate that has minority input. And I’ll remind you again, there was every year since Donald Trump was president, every year he tried to pressure my Republican colleagues to get rid of the filibuster so they could pass overreaching, overwhelming bills that would not be good for our country. I didn’t think so. They pushed back on that.

And we’re talking to a group of them right now. We’re continuing to have good dialogue. So, whatever Mitch McConnell — Senator McConnell, I’m sorry, from Kentucky said, as I just heard — I don’t know what his reasoning is for that, but I can assure you, there are Republicans working with Democrats to want to make something happen.

CUOMO: But will they vote? You know, just for some context that you laid out in the history, McCain was the one vote that stood between Trump getting what he wanted and not.

MANCHIN: Yeah.

CUOMO: There…