Senator Joe Manchin has fired back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calling her claims that he has 'weekly huddles' with Exxon executives 'totally false.'
Manchin appeared on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday to explain his concerns with President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion plan for social and environmental spending, saying he won't support even half that amount.
After Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat whose vote is crucial in the evenly divided Senate, first aired his concerns in an op-ed last week, Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter claiming that her fellow Democrat was 'killing people' with his objections.
'Manchin has weekly huddles w/ Exxon & is one of many senators who gives lobbyists their pen to write so-called 'bipartisan' fossil fuel bills,' the New York Democrat wrote. 'Sick of this 'bipartisan' corruption that masquerades as clear-eyed moderation.'
Manchin fired back at the firebrand progressive when CNN host Dana Bash asked him about her claims, saying: 'I keep my door open for everybody. That's totally false.'
'Those type of superlatives, it's just awful. And continue to divide, divide divide,' Manchin said.
Senator Joe Manchin has fired back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calling her claims that he has 'weekly huddles' with Exxon executives 'totally false'
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter claiming that her fellow Democrat was 'killing people' with his objections to Biden's social and environmental spending plan
'I don't know that young lady that well, I really don't. I met her one time between sets here, but that's it. We've not had any conversations. She's speculating and saying things,' Manchin said.
Pressed on whether he opposes Biden's spending plan because of donor influence, Manchin fired back: 'I'm opposed to it because it makes not sense at all.'
Manchin's support is crucial for Democrats if they want to enact Biden´s massive 'Build Back Better' agenda, with the Senate split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris the tiebreaker if there is no Republican support.
With congressional committees working toward the target of Wednesday set by party leaders to have the bill drafted, Manchin made clear his view, in a series of television interviews, that there was 'no way' Congress would meet the late September goal from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for passage.
But the moderate Democrat continues to snub his party's plan to not pass a separate infrastructure package without the progressive reconciliation package.
'No, I could not support $3.5 trillion,' Manchin told NBC's Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin doubled-down on Sunday saying he won't back his party's $3.5 trillion reconciliation package as progressives say they won't vote through the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill without its passage
'If I was writing it from scratch, I'd be looking at, first of all, adjusting the tax code,' Manchin continued. 'I've always said that. I said basically the 2017 tax code was weighted unfairly to the wealthy. We need to change that. That's why I agreed to go to reconciliation.'
'But I'm not going to go to a
