Donald Trump vows to campaign ‘as hard as anybody’ against Manchin, who he claims betrayed him during impeachment

Donald Trump tore into US Sen. Joe Manchin during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, vowing to campaign against the West Virginia Democrat who claimed he was “destroying” the state by signing the budget and the climate of the Democrats. agreement.

“I’m going to go down and campaign against him as hard as anybody can,” Mr. Trump, prompting one of the biggest applause of the night.

The former president also claimed that Manchin, who is not up for re-election until 2025, promised not to vote against him during the impeachment process.

“I would never vote against you, you’re a great president,” Trump told the senator.

Mr. Manchin voted against Trump in both of his impeachments.

The independent reached out to Mr. Manchin for comment.

Mr. Trump also went after another moderate who had been seen as a potential roadblock to the Democrats’ social spending package, Kyrsten Sinema. In his speech, he hinted that he might attack her in her homeland as well.

“What happened to Manchin and Cinema?” Mr. Trump said. “What happened? We’re trying to figure out what the hell happened. Where did this new philosophy suddenly come from?”

But the former president didn’t just attack Democrats.

He also sharply criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling him an “old, broken crow” who was “taken for a ride” by Democrats on the bipartisan infrastructure deal in 2021.

Trump says he warned the Senate leader that Democrats will continue to push for more social spending and tax increases, even though parts of the Democrats’ so-called Build Back Better agenda were cut from the infrastructure deal in order to pass.

“McConnell is the most unpopular politician in the country, even more so than crazy Nancy Pelosi,” Trump said. “Something has to be done. Raises large campaign contributions for senators. That’s how he keeps his power.”

During his speech at CPAC, Mr. Trump also celebrated the results of a convention poll that showed him as the overwhelming favorite for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination among attendees.

“I better win this straw vote,” he said with a laugh, describing when he learned the results.

“When you see those numbers, there’s a great sense of unity, not only at CPAC, but in the Republican Party.”