Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) said he does not "give a sh*t" whether he gets reelected after he was asked about how attacks from his political opponents were affecting his decisions in Congress.
Manchin, who is up for reelection next year, became agitated during an interview with the Charleston Gazette-Mail published Sunday. The newspaper asked whether attacks from one of Manchin's potential Republican opponents, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, affected the incumbent's policy decisions.
"I don't give a sh*t, you understand? I just don't give a sh*t," Manchin told the Gazette-Mail in reference to a political attack from Morrisey.
Manchin's response was sparked after he was asked if Morrisey's' call for him to step down from the Senate's Democratic Party leadership related to his decision not to sign a letter establishing a party line on tax reform.
"Don't care if I get elected, don't care if I get defeated, how about that. If they think because I'm up for election, that I can be wrangled into voting for sh*t that I don't like and can't explain, they're all crazy," Manchin said.
Morrisey first called on Manchin to step down from party leadership in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon. Manchin serves as the vice chairman of the Senate Democratic policy committee.
Manchin was one of three Democrats who refused to sign the letter sent to Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), and GOP Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch (R., Utah). The letter, sent on August 1, urged the GOP not to use the budget reconciliation procedures to protect the tax reform bill from a filibuster.
"I'm not scared of an election, let's put it that way," Manchin said. "Elections do not bother me or scare me. I'm going to continue to do the same thing I've always done, extremely independent."