While appearing on CNN yesterday, Senator Joe Manchin (a Democrat) slammed Nancy Pelosi’s comment on President Trump’s new immigration proposal wherein she said he wants to “make America white again”.
“You know what? We don’t need that type of rhetoric on either side,” Manchin told CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union. Asked whether that meant he “condemned” Pelosi’s remark, Manchin replied that his criticism would apply to both sides: “I’m condemning all this crazy rhetoric that goes on. Just because someone’s a Republican — it’s not my enemy. And we have to work together.”
“We’re going to meet Monday night, start over again. Trying to find that commonality that we’ve been able to do. And there’s no way that anyone should be considering any more of a shutdown, even talking the nonsense of a shutdown,” he said. “Let’s get down to business and fix it. And we can do it. The president’s laid out what he wants. That’s a good starting point. Let’s see if it’s something we can agree on. Something we need to adjust and something we can negotiate with.”
“I’m condemning all this crazy rhetoric that goes on,” Manchin replied. “Just because someone is Republican, is not my enemy and we have to work together.”
https://youtu.be/liF6WdFNLJI?t=245
Specifically, she said:
“Since I’m on the subject of Dreamers, since last night, the president put forth a plan. Let me just say what I said last night, that plan is a campaign to make America white again. It is a plan that says over 50 percent of the current legal immigration will be cut back. … They are changing the character of our country by what they are putting forth. They bring a tear to the eye of the Statue of Liberty.”
Perhaps unlike some of his colleagues, Manchin is a little more open, though cautious, of Trump’s plan, citing the “Gang of Eight” bill from 2013 which passed the Senate but not the house.
Saying that he feels that bill in particular “went big” on both security and citizenship path where he feels Trump’s plan emphasizes security over citizenship.
Most Democrats are more upset about the latter, however, as they believe it will cut efforts to legalize potentially tens of millions of people in the future — they feel that Trump’s proposal will make them pick between helping the so-called “Dreamers” — who have been the faces of the entire movement, or moving past it to work on a broad goal.
The proposal will grant a “path to citizenship” to the 1.8 million “Dreamers” even if they are not among the 800,000 who applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This is a big “instant win” really for the Democrats. They get something they REALLY want but it’s not without its compromise.
On the flip side, President Trump is demanding the $25 billion needed to fund the border wall as well as security, ending chain migration, and canceling the diversity visa lottery.
Democrats realize they get a huge victory here but as they often act like children, are throwing a tantrum because they want it to be 100% solely and only their way.