Joe Manchin, calling America “center right”, is virtually calling the nation a conservative country. If Tuesday is any indication, he is correct and will be proven more so next November.

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FNC: “Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., declared Thursday the United States is a ‘center-right country’ on Thursday in remarks that further raised hackles on the progressive left.

The moderate Democrat has infuriated liberals in Congress over his opposition to Biden’s ambitious spending plan and social overhaul, citing its near $2-trillion price tag and possible economic impact in a time where Americans are already grappling with inflation.

And on immigration, the Senate parliamentarian has so far shot down two proposals to give pathways to citizenship or other legal protections to illegal immigrants already in the country — saying that it does not meet the criteria for a budget reconciliation bill.  The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the first of those plans would increase deficits by $500 billion by 2041. ‘I’m not going to vote to overrule the parliamentarian,’ Manchin said.” Manchin also told CNN that Joe Biden could, as Rep. Abigail Spanger, D-VA, said, “Be normal and stop the chaos.”

“I think he can do that,” Manchin said. “We have to work together. We can’t go too far left. This is not a center-left or a left country. We are a center, if anything, a little center-right country. That’s being shown, and we ought to be able to recognize that. And all my friends on the left are progressive or liberals, whatever. I said I’m not, I always say that I’m a responsible West Virginia Democrat, and I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate.” He also hasn’t forgot West Virginia went heavily for Trump.

On the budget? “Simply put, I will not support a bill that is this consequential without thoroughly understanding the impact that it will have on our national debt, our economy, and most importantly, all of our American people,” Manchin said Monday. “Take a breath, let’s look at this.” he told press on Wednesday. “We’re talking about major tax overhaul reform. We’re talking about changing our energy policies. We’re talking about a whole social rearrangement. We’re talking about $29 trillion of debt. So we better get our  hands around it and be responsible.”

Further on immigration? “For us to even be talking about immigration without border security is ludicrous,” Manchin said. “I’ve told them…the average person turns on the TV and sees what’s going on in the border, and that basically scares the bejesus out of an awful lot of people,” he said. “If [migrants] think they can come and get all the different benefits that people, the citizens of America get are entitled to, they’re going to continue to come. So, no, I don’t think so.”