Book details Biden pressuring Manchin on COVID bill: ‘You’re really f‑‑‑ing me’

A new book offers more detail on President Biden pressuring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) into voting for the COVID-19 relief package, the American Rescue Plan, describing the president warning Manchin that he’d be “really f‑‑‑ing” him if he didn’t vote for the plan.

Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer’s “The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future” described the reported March 2021 call, when Biden was on the brink of passing his first major piece of legislation and needed the centrist Democrat’s vote.

“Biden had refrained from applying personal pressure. But there was a limit to his patience. He picked up the phone and delivered a stern message to Manchin. He stated the obvious: ‘Joe, if you don’t come along, you’re really f‑‑‑ing me. I need you on this. Find your way to yes,’” Foer wrote.

The book echoes previous reporting from journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in their book “Peril” surrounding the 2021 call.

Democrats passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill without GOP votes through the budget reconciliation process. Manchin got on board after a long vote series, with Democrats ultimately making changes to extended unemployment benefits to win over the centrist senator, highlighting his power in the then 50-50 Senate.

Weeks after the bill passed, Biden appointed Manchin’s wife to the Appalachian Regional Commission, a paid post, Foer noted. More than a month after that, first lady Jill Biden visited West Virginia with actress Jennifer Garner.

“But the messiness wasn’t what caught the eye. It was Biden’s aggression,” Foer wrote. “He had proposed one of the most expensive, most self-consciously progressive pieces of legislation in American history and passed it quickly without any significant concessions.”

Still, Manchin later signaled he wouldn’t vote for another spending bill using reconciliation without Biden pursuing bipartisan legislation.

The book also outlines the relationship between Manchin and Vice President Harris in the early days of Biden’s presidency, when the administration was trying to court Manchin into voting for the American Rescue Plan.

Harris did an interview on West Virginia local television that reportedly annoyed Manchin, with then-White House chief of staff Ron Klain apologizing to the senator.

“Less than two weeks into the Biden presidency, Ron Klain found himself groveling on the phone with Manchin. ‘Our mistake,’ Klain said,” according to Foer.

Manchin replied: “Look, you guys lost my state by 40 points. If you really think that coming and doing TV in my state’s gonna change my mind…”

Manchin visited the White House around that time, questioning if Harris would stay for a meeting, Foer recalled.

“Joe Manchin’s visit wasn’t on the public schedule. But after Kamala Harris’s poorly received interview on West Virginia television, Biden needed to shower attention on the senator,” Foer wrote. “When Manchin entered the Oval Office, the vice president and president were locked in conversation. Manchin asked if Harris would be staying. ‘No, no, it’s just the two of us,’ the president replied. Harris stood and excited the room.”

Foer’s book is an insider account of Biden’s first two years in office. It is made up of almost 300 interviews between November 2020 and February 2023.

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