Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) on Sunday said it would be "wrong" for Democrats to use comments that President Donald Trump is alleged to have made in order to gain leverage over Republicans and advance their agenda on immigration policy.
On "Face The Nation," host John Dickerson asked Manchin why he thought the "hype" surrounding the bipartisan immigration bill was so "unbelievable."
The West Virginia Democrat first admonished those on both sides of the aisle who would accuse Sens. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) of lying about the president's comments in order to promote votes one way or another.
"Well first of all, someone saying that Senator Durbin or Senator Graham is going to make something up that the President of the United States has said and thinking that they would do that in order to gin up people one way or another–that’s wrong," Manchin said.
Manchin continued on to say he doesn't believe any senator would make something up as atrocious as President Donald Trump’s alleged "s––hole" comments. Nevertheless, he said if Trump did refer to Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries as "s––hole countries," he believes it’s time to move on.
"We’ve got to move on," Manchin continued to tell CBS’s Dickerson. "I mean, if it was said in whatever content, it was said. It was hurtful, it was harmful, it shouldn’t have been said. But let’s move on, don’t let it stop the whole procedure."
Dickerson said some Democrats want to use Trump’s comments as leverage to get what they want when it comes to immigration policy.
"John, listen, that’s wrong too," Manchin said. "If my fellow colleagues and Democrats in the caucus want to do something about it– that’s wrong. That doesn't fix anything."