Conservatives on social media were quick to call out a tweet about President Joe Biden’s stalled agenda which stated that a “single senator” was holding up legislation in the Senate.
On Friday, ABC News tweeted a link to a story about the difficulty Biden is experiencing in getting his agenda passed.
The caption read, “A single senator is about to seriously set back an entire presidential agenda.”
A single senator is about to seriously set back an entire presidential agenda. https://t.co/0pvzruT6mV
— ABC News (@ABC) December 17, 2021
The tweet comes as Democrats delayed a vote on the roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act after negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) failed to win his support for the legislation.
Conservatives on Twitter were quick to react:
51 senators, actually. Don’t the woke kids call this erasure? https://t.co/qdOd94bXxI
— Rachael Larimore (@RachaelBL) December 17, 2021
Actually, it's 51 senators, so tell us more about how you think a minority should be able to enact policy… https://t.co/rwAf11F7Jc
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) December 17, 2021
51 people, from states of all sizes, have this control. Manchin is needed because half the senate is already fully opposed to BBB. This headline was written as if GOP senators don’t even exist.
— Nick Pappas (@NickAPappas) December 17, 2021
It's 51 senators. Not 1.
— Americans for Prosperity (@AFPhq) December 17, 2021
A single senator, along with 50 other senators, is going to set back an entire presidential agenda opposed by a majority of the population https://t.co/o9arJqZhAb
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 17, 2021
Absurd framing. A majority of senators oppose the bill. That's how it works. https://t.co/RxOOfPISso
— Brian Riedl ? (@Brian_Riedl) December 17, 2021
Just incredible framing here https://t.co/W1DVjBREas
— Andrew Wagner (@andrewwagner) December 17, 2021
Tell us you skipped high school civics class without telling us you skipped high school civics class. https://t.co/47Z2oad8Dk
— Jim Meigs (@jamesbmeigs) December 17, 2021
Klon Rain alt account https://t.co/S8ToPkFF4C
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) December 17, 2021
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) confirmed that Democrats would not meet their self-imposed year-end deadline for passing the bill. He said, “The president requested more time to continue his negotiations, and so we will keep working with him, hand in hand, to bring this bill over the finish line and deliver on these much-needed provisions.”
However, he did not lay out a timeline for when the bill might come up for a vote.
In a statement, Biden said Manchin “reiterated his support for Build Back Better funding at the level of the framework plan I announced in September.”
“I believe that we will bridge our differences and advance the Build Back Better plan, even in the face of fierce Republican opposition,” the statement added.
Democrats are hoping to use a process known as budget reconciliation in the Senate to pass the spending package. That would require all 50 senators to vote for the bill, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.
If Manchin and every Republican senator voted against it, the bill would fail to pass the Senate.
