Oct. 21, 2021: The backstory on David Corns Manchin scoop
The Joe Manchin news that shook Washington on Wednesday was David Corn\u2019s report in Mother Jones that the West Virginia senator is considering motoring his houseboat out of the Democratic dock:\n\u201cIn recent days, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss this. Manchin has said that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an \u2018American Independent.\u2019 And he has devised a detailed exit strategy for his departure.\u201d\nA rather angry Manchin told our Burgess Everett that Corn\u2019s story was \u201cbullshit.\u201d\nWe talked to Corn on Wednesday night and came away with the impression of a reporter who is 1,000% sure his story was correct.\n\xa0Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio.\xa0Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.