Humanist Report host Mike Figueredo on Tuesday criticized “conservative Democrats” Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Krysten Sinema (Ariz.), saying they “hold more power” in negotiations than progressives.
Figueredo pointed out in an appearance on Hill.TV’s “Rising” that the Democrats’ thin majority with the tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 Senate gives moderate Democrats more say in decisions, noting that they “oftentimes” side with Republicans more than moderate Republicans vote with Democrats.
“When it comes to Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema — they’re ruthless, and they don’t actually care that people are suffering, so they will hold up” the Democratic agenda, he said.
“If you want to play chicken with them, they’ll end up winning because they don’t actually care,” he added.
He partly attributed the senators’ straying from the caucus to party leadership, saying Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) does not get members “to hold their ground” like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“We don’t see that leadership on the Democratic Party side, so there’s no discipline there,” Figueredo said.
“I really wish that it was the left … of the party who had more leverage, but unfortunately, that is never the case,” he said. “It’s always … the right-wingers are the lowest common denominators.”
Manchin and Sinema have both declared their support to keep the filibuster, which most Democratic senators want to abolish.
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