(NewsNation) — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said when it comes to immigration reform, lawmakers shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Manchin, who is retiring from Congress, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday that it’s too early to count Biden out, even as voters have concerns over his age and mental fitness. With former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley out of the race, he said some moderate Republicans could turn out for Biden again.
“That’s how he won in 2020, it was basically that centrist middle. He was the adult in the room saying, ‘I know how it works’ and he’s had a record of being in the center, making deals,” Manchin said. “My problem is, they’ve moved him pretty far to the left. I’m hoping he comes back to the center or center left.”
Manchin said he can’t back former President Donald Trump.
“I love my country too much for that,” he said.
When it comes to immigration, Manchin said parole programs for countries experiencing hardship aren’t new, but he believes the creation of a border parole policy, where it is more difficult to vet people, is where problems with the border started.
“Joe Biden owns it. He has to say he made a horrible mistake,” Manchin said. “He tried to help people around the world that were displaced.”
While Manchin thinks Biden didn’t expect the border to be overrun, he said it is on him to fix it and noted the president is working to do that, in part with the failed Senate compromise that would have increased funding for border security and made changes to some policies.
The compromise collapsed after pushback from House Republicans and statements from former President Donald Trump urging Republicans to vote against the bill.
“Donald Trump’s saying ‘no’ for politics,” Manchin said. “We had what we thought was a slam dunk on doing a piece of legislation that we’ve been hoping for for the last three months.”
Manchin accused Trump of turning Republicans against the bill because of the election and warned against letting the ideal of perfect legislation prevent lawmakers from passing laws on critical issues including the border.