Sen. Joe Manchin says Biden went off on him for opposing the 'American Rescue Plan'

Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., said this week that President Joe Biden “went completely insane on me” after he at first opposed the American Rescue Plan.

The American Rescue Plan was Biden's first major piece of legislation after becoming president in 2021. The bill was in large part intended as a COVID-19 stimulus package.

Manchin said during an interview published Thursday that he planned to kill the whole bill, according to The Hill.

The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package eventually passed in Congress with no Republican support.  

Manchin said that he wanted Biden to "draw some things back" due to the size of the bill. 

Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer wrote in a 2023 book titled "The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America’s Future" that Biden had gone off on Manchin over the phone.

“Biden had refrained from applying personal pressure. But there was a limit to his patience. He picked up the phone and delivered a stern message to Manchin. He stated the obvious: ‘Joe, if you don’t come along, you’re really f‑‑‑ing me. I need you on this. Find your way to yes,’" Foer wrote. 

Manchin, who is retiring from the Senate at the end of this term, says now that he should have voted against the bill. But after Democrats made some adjustments on unemployment benefits and to show respect to Biden, he went ahead and voted for the bill.