Fox has been singing the praises of Joe Manchin for his opposition to the Build Back Better bill ever since his appearance on Fox News Sunday last week, but they seem to be hedging their bets for what's to come next year.
On this Sunday's Fox & Friends, after trashing an op-ed in The Hill titled Miserly Manchin stole Christmas and hope from American families, and attacking progressives who have dared to voice their displeasure with Manchin, the hosts proceeded to attack the Build Back Better legislation, reading talking points from an op-ed written by the president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association.
Carly Shimkus then admitted what the network has mainly been ignoring for the last week, and that's the fact that the White House, Democrats, and Manchin himself aren't done talking.
SHIMKUS: That's one side of the equation. The other side though is Todd that President Biden and Jen Psaki they have said that they are not done with this and they are going to put the pressure on it Joe Manchin. They still want to keep talking to him and apparently, Joe Manchin is open to continuing this conversation.
Before he definitively said no on Build Back Better and he did that interview with Bret Baier, he had delivered a plan, an outline of $1.8 trillion deal that he said he would sign onto. So there is some chance that build back better in some form could pass in 2022.
Her cohost Todd Piro tried throwing cold water on the notion that anything is going to get passed.
PIRO: Okay, but you mention the word pressure, right Carly? How much more pressure and they apply on Joe Manchin to get the bill they want? I don't think they can do much more to this guy short of doing something illegal, and obviously that's not how government works, hopefully.
Taking a step back for a moment and looking what Joe Manchin did. Joe Manchin is not going to cave unless the legislation that the president and his allies want to enact does what the American people need it to do, which is help the American people, build roads and bridges, not tree equity and not cripple us from an inflationary perspective for the rest of our-- the people that, we are talking to right now, for the rest of our lives -- much less the lives of our kids and their grand kids.
It's a scary proposition, what the Democrats that are currently in charge want to get through. Joe Manchin is the last line of defense to that and so I do not see him caving. He stuck to his guns this far. I can't see him caving anytime soon going forward.
And while everyone wants this new FDR sort of New Deal type image, that was a different time. And what FDR ultimately enacted did help the nation, but it came at a cost. We cannot afford that cost right now. My kids can't afford that cost going forward, and neither can my grand kids.
Somehow, Fox never questions how we can afford more tax cuts, or funding for the military which isn't paid for.
So how will the network react when Manchin comes back to the bargaining table next year? I await them turning on a dime and calling him a socialist if they finally get something passed.
