Bette Midler apologizes for calling West Virginians 'poor, illiterate and strung out'

It isn’t only the Progressives in Washington DC who feel bitter towards Democrat Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia for publicly backing down from talks to vote on President Biden’s "Build Back Better" spending bill.

Senator Manchin is more than forthcoming about the animosity surrounding Build Back Better’s negotiations. On Monday during a radio program interview, he expressed frustrations about how White House staffers attempted to bully him into submission.

As for Midler, she’s still mad at Joe Manchin, but admits her statements about the people in the state of West Virginia crossed a line.

"I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst.  I’m just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise.  Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!"

Over the weekend, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki publicly criticized Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia for being "at odds" with what he discussed with Joe Biden. The relationship between the Democrat and the President was a point of interest for reporters at Monday’s press conference, too.

Joe Manchin announced his opposition to President Biden’s $1 trillion USD-plus "social spending" pitch on "Fox News Sunday." This after months of deliberation over the bill that for a while was paired with a separate infrastructure deal that did manage to survive both chambers of Congress.

The "I told you so" positioning of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in reaction to Manchin contrasts with the feelings of anger from Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal.