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New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is questioning the integrity of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) after stating he would oppose voting rights legislation set to protect Americans at voting booths across the country. AOC suspects he’s taking “dark money” from organizations linked to conservative Billionaires.
According to Raw Story, the lawmaker revealed her concerns during an appearance on MSNBC with host Chris Hayes this week, speculating if Manchin’s reason has a dirty motive behind it. During the weekend, he said he couldn’t support the For the People Act because it was exclusively supported by Democrats.
“H.R.1 stands up against lobbyists and dark money. I would reckon to think that this is probably just as much a part of Joe Manchin’s calculus as anything else,” she told MSNBC‘s Chris Hayes on Tuesday. “Because when it comes to this bipartisan argument, I gotta tell you, I don’t buy it. Because Joe Manchin has voted for bills that have not been bipartisan before — look at the American Rescue Plan.”
She continued to raise the suspicion that Manchin could be paid off by conservative organizations, specifically funded by the Koch brothers, to sway him against supporting the progressive legislation.
“You look at the Koch brothers and you look at organizations like the Heritage Foundation and conservative lobby groups that are doing a victory lap. Claiming victory over the fact that Manchin refuses to change on the filibuster,” she said. “I think these two things are very closely intertwined.”
Her theory isn’t out of thin air. This week CNBC uncovered organizations connected to the Koch network that has been pressuring Manchin to oppose the legislation. Read more on that here.
“Protecting our democracy is also about making sure we give lobbyists and dark money groups, which are funding these attacks on the right to vote, the boot,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
She added, “Corporate money has a very, very tight grip on both parties. And I think that has to do with the calculus in this situation that people aren’t really discussing enough.”
Politics is a dirty game.