Vice President Kamala Harris went easy in a Monday interview on Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who the day before went on TV and tanked President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill.
In a sit-down with CBS' Margaret Brennan that aired Monday night, the vice president said it's not about 'any specific individual' and she won't get caught up in 'personal politics.'
'No, I don't feel - I don't have any personal feelings about this. This is about let's get the job done. Let's get it done,' she answered when Brennan asked if she felt betrayed.
In an interview with CBS News that began airing Monday night, Vice President Kamala Harris went easy on Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin despite Manchin tanking President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill
Biden hasn't yet personally expressed to the press his feelings on Manchin.
He ignored shouted questions when arriving back at the White House Monday morning.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki put out a strongly worded statement Sunday calling Manchin's announcement on Fox a 'sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the president and the senator's colleagues in the House and Senate.'
'Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word,' Psaki said.
'In the meantime, Senator Manchin will have to explain to those families paying $1,000 a month for insulin why they need to keep paying that, instead of $35 for that vital medicine. He will have to explain to the nearly two million women who would get the affordable day care they need to return to work why he opposes a plan to get them the help they need,' Psaki went on. 'Maybe Senator Manchin can explain to the millions of children who have been lifted out of poverty, in part due to the Child Tax Credit, why he wants to end a program that is helping achieve this milestone - we cannot.'
Sen. Joe Manchin went on Fox News Sunday one day ago and said he wouldn't be voting for President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill, comments the White House called a 'sudden and inexplicable reversal'
Psaki made more peacable comments during Monday's briefing and Harris was upbeat during the CBS interview.
If Manchin had gotten on board approval of the $1.75 trillion bill, Harris - as president of the 50-50 Senate - would have broken the tie for the Democrats to get it through.
'In fact, the president and I joke when I leave one of our meetings to go break a tie he says, "Well, that's gonna be a winning vote." Whenever I vote, we win. It's a joke we have,' Harris said.
'The stakes are so high. I refuse to get caught up in what might be personal politics,' she added.
Brennan also asked Harris about the emerging Omicron variant and the Russia's military escalation on its border with Ukraine.
'We are prepared for it,' Harris said on Omicron.
Harris said Americans had the 'power today' to end the coronavirus pandemic, pointing to vaccinations and boosters, but wouldn't specifically blame the unvaccinated for prolonging the crisis.
'I don't think this is a moment to talk about fault,' she answered. 'It is no one's fault that this virus hit our shores or hit the world. But it is more about individual power and responsibility, and it's about the decisions that everyone has the choice to make, no doubt.'
Harris said that the Biden administration is 'prepared to issue sanctions like you've not seen before,' if Russia invades Ukraine, but she wouldn't say if Russian President Vladimir Putin would be sanctioned directly.
'I'm not going to talk about specific sanctions, but we are making that clear to him,' Harris said.
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