Firing Line: Joe Manchin

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin speaks on the recent attack on the Capitol and on the second impeachment of President Trump.

Manchin said that he believes the events he witnessed were clearly an insurrection. He acknowledges that many people do not recognize it as such, but he hopes that the influx of facts and evidence will convince skeptics otherwise.

Although he fully supports the impeachment of Trump, he believes that the Senate trial should be pushed back. He encourages Nancy Pelosi to hold off on delivering the impeachment articles to the Senate for at least three to four months.

“If you want to go ahead and convict, let us build the evidence up so the American people believe and we don’t have more division,” he said.

Manchin has publicly supported the deplatforming of Trump off of many social media websites. He believes that it is their right as private companies to do so. He hopes that this move will convince Republican Senators to voice dissenting opinions within their own party.

As the Senate trial date is set for as early as the nineteenth, his major concern is around the majority Senate. Seventeen Senate Republicans are needed to cast a majority ruling for conviction.

Despite this major setback, he does have a positive outlook in terms of convicting Trump. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has supported the impeachment and multiple Senate Republicans have called for Trump to resign from office.

 He believes that this support alongside the evidence that has been built up will be enough for a conviction.

As the days are counting down before the Biden administration takes over, Manchin has said that he looks forward to seeing President-elect Biden’s character be shown in office. He believes that Biden is a man who is very compassionate and really cares about human beings.

He encourages the American citizens to “give him a chance to show you his heart and soul.”