Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) is insisting he has always supported the idea of building a wall on the Mexican border, but he has repeatedly voiced opposition to the wall in the past year.
Manchin's campaign demanded on Friday that a new ad attacking his stance on a border wall be taken down, calling it a "flat out lie" that he is against a wall.
"The dishonest attacks in this ad are exactly why Washington sucks," Manchin said in a press release. "I voted with President Trump to support his border wall, anyone who tells you different is lying."
Manchin in his statement is referencing his vote for a failed February 15 bill that included funding for a border wall. Unmentioned by Manchin, however, is the fact that he had voiced his opposition to the wall numerous times ahead of the inconsequential February vote.
In two interviews on July 11, 2017, one which is part of the ad in question, Manchin openly says he is against building a wall.
"I'm not for building a wall," he said during an interview with the Young Turks, "I'm not for building a wall at all."
That same day Politico reported that Manchin was opposed to the idea of a wall.
"Even the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has allied himself with Trump on other issues, said he’s 'not been supportive of funding for a wall,'" Politico wrote.
Manchin was quoted as saying the wall was "something I have no interest in."
"It’s something I have no interest in," Manchin said. "I just think we have so many other pressing problems and I think there’s other ways immigration needs to be treated."
This was not a new position for Manchin—three months earlier he interrupted a questioner to say, "I'm not voting for the wall."
In May 2017, Manchin also told MSNBC that he would not support any funding for a border wall.
Manchin has recently attempted to "go full MAGA," according to Politico. He has said he would consider supporting Trump in 2020 and said supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016 was a mistake he regrets.
Donald Trump Jr. said he wasn't buying Manchin's new found support for Trump.
"What a joke. You can’t go "Full #MAGA" in WV while voting against Tax Cuts, voting for excessive regulations, and voting with Bernie Sanders more than you do with POTUS," Trump Jr. said on Twitter.
One Nation, the group behind the ad, said late Friday it was standing behind it.
"Sen. Manchin has repeatedly expressed in his own words that he opposed building a wall," it said. "Given Manchin's erratic statements and voting history on border security, it is all the more important that his constituents contact his office to urge Sen. Manchin to support strong border security the next time a critical vote is cast in the U.S. Senate."