Democratic Sen. Manchin endorses reelection of GOP Sen. Murkowski [Video]

• Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia went beyond party lines to endorse the reelection campaign of Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
• Murkowski has been at odds with members of her party since she criticized former President Donald Trump.
• The Alaska Republican said that she would similarly endorse her Democrat colleague if he also seeks reelection.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) endorsed the reelection campaign of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) during a joint interview on Sunday.

Manchin said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” “It doesn’t matter if I’m a Democrat, and they’re a Republican, or vice versa.”

He called it “hypocritical” to be “against” a person “just because they have an R or D by their name,” especially when they’re a colleague.

Manchin added, “If these are good people I’ve worked with, we have accomplished a lot, why in the world wouldn’t I want to work with them and continue to work with them?”

Murkowski has been at odds with members of her own party due to her critical remarks of former President Donald Trump.

She was one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict at Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021. Most recently, she berated the Republican National Committee for censuring GOP senators who participated in a House investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Last year, Trump described Murkowski as “a disloyal and very bad senator.” He also endorsed one of Murkowski’s Republican opponents in her reelection bid.

Murkowski, who currently doesn’t have a Democratic challenger, stated, “I’m not here to be the representative of the Republican Party. I’m here to be the representative for Alaskan people. And I take that charge very, very seriously.”

Manchin, who has similarly faced criticism from members of his own party, echoed the same sentiment.

He declared, “I’m not a Washington Democrat, I’m a good old West Virginia Democrat” who keeps in mind the input from “our West Virginia citizens we represent.”

Murkowski said she would return the favor and endorse Manchin if he decided to run for reelection in 2024.

Manchin has yet to decide, but Democrats have previously stated that he might lose party endorsements since he refused to endorse President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill last year.

Source: HuffPost