A video clip of Senator Joe Manchin is making the rounds, showing the West Virginia senator poised to give President Trump a standing ovation during the State of the Union address, only to awkwardly remain seated when he saw his Democrat colleagues refusing to stand.
It is an astonishing display of how much pressure there is for Democrats in being required to toe the Party’s anti-Trump line.
The Democrat side of the chamber refused to cheer or even acknowledge several basic comments that any self-respecting American could get behind.
They refused to cheer the National Anthem. They sat stone-faced at the mention of ‘In God We Trust.’ They couldn’t even muster the courage to applaud historically low unemployment rates for African-Americans or Latinos.
Initially, Manchin was experiencing some serious peer pressure as evidenced by the following clip …
It would be awkward if this video of @Sen_JoeManchin refusing to stand during the #SOTU went viral.#StateOfTheUnionAddress #StateOfTheUnion #DEMOCRATS #Trump @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/YjTj6f81CP
— Blake_View 🇺🇸 (@Blake_View) January 31, 2018
It should be noted that Manchin did eventually relent, joining Republicans in several ovations for President Trump while his Democrat colleagues continued to pout.
Manchin later appeared on Fox & Friends to rip the Democrat members of Congress for being “disrespectful.”
“That’s the way I was raised in West Virginia. We have respect. There is civility still yet,” he explained. “There should be civility in this place. That’s disrespectful. Last night was disrespectful.”
Joe Manchin, hero of Fox & Friends. pic.twitter.com/CTENbpgvf0
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 31, 2018
The President’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., said the disrespect is tantamount to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
“You can see them all almost looking around, like ‘We almost have to stand for this,’ but the derangement is real. They have to do the opposite,” he said. “They have been forced to take the opposite approach of everything that he does, everything that he says. So even things that are common sense solutions for the American people, they have to do the opposite.”
“It was amazing to watch,” Trump, Jr., added.
It’s absolutely hysterical to watch Joe Manchin applaud on Trump’s various economy lines & Schumer look down the aisle and shoosh him.
this has happened twice now
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 31, 2018
Manchin has been calling out his Democrat colleagues with more and more consistency of late. He recently blasted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for her childish race-baiting when it comes to immigration talks.
“I’m condemning all this crazy rhetoric that goes on,” the Congressman said. “Just because someone is Republican, is not my enemy and we have to work together.”
At least the Democrats have one Party member with a reasonable view of President Trump.
There may be hope yet.
Why did Democrats refuse to applaud anything President Trump said? Share your thoughts below!
