Read into it what you will, but Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, chose to sit with Republicans during Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. According to Washington Examiner:
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin opted to sit with Republican members during Tuesday’s State of the Union rather than his Democratic colleagues.
The West Virginia senator instead sat between GOP Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker and Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, directly behind Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst.
As Biden gave his address, Manchin remained seated and refrained from clapping as others applauded the president for lauding items within his Build Back Better bill, including the expanded Child Tax Credit that expired in December, which Manchin opposed.
During parts of the address, Manchin was spotted leaning over to speak to Romney on several occasions.
Later on, Manchin was seen on the phone and did not stand as people applauded Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Does this mean Manchin is becoming a Republican? No. He is still a Democrat even if his moderate views are more aligned with Democrats of a past era. Reports indicate he was asked to sit there.
Colleague Kelly Phares rpts Romney asked Manchin to sit with him during Buden speech.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 2, 2022
Manchin is a master at drawing just the right kind of attention. He’ll be questioned about it, and he’ll say something about the spirit of bipartisanship and the regime needs to start reaching across the aisle just as Manchin did, literally.
