Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was seen partying with billionaires at the mansion of Washington Post heiress Lally Weymouth.
On June 30, Manchin said Independence Day is a time to “come together as West Virginians and Americans to celebrate our great nation.”
Instead of spending time with fellow West Virginians, it appears that Manchin spent much of Independence Day hobnobbing in the Hamptons with many wealthy Americans.
Former Rep. Pete King (R-NY) posted on July 3 that he attended a party at Weymouth’s house in Southhampton with Manchin, who is “considering a third party candidacy for president in 2024”:
Great July 4th get together on Saturday night at Lally Weymouth’s annual party at her home in Southampton. Among those…
Posted by Pete King on Monday, July 3, 2023
The party featured some of the wealthiest and most powerful members of the elite, including Julia Koch, the world’s second wealthiest woman according to Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $58.2 billion, as well as Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black, Martha Stewart, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), former New York Police Department (NYPD) boss Ray Kelly, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and several foreign dignitaries.
Jonathan Capehart, an associate editor at the Washington Post, also attended Weymouth’s party:
Black, who has an estimated net worth of $11.6 billion, donated $5,400 to Manchin in 2018. Manchin has in total received $17,200 from Apollo Management employees.
The West Virginia senator has not ruled out running for president on a No Labels ticket.
The centrist political group is getting on the ballot in many states, and although it said it not interested in running a presidential campaign, it is has committed to raising $70 million, gathering signatures, and qualifying for the ballot in 2024. No Labels has gained access to the ballot in Arizona, Colorado, Alaska, and Oregon.
Ryan Clancy, a lead strategist for No Labels, said, “We’re going for as many states as we can across the country.”
Clancy referred to No Labels as a presidential “insurance project” for dissatisfied Republicans and Democrats.
“The only way this works is if in the view of the public, the major party nominees are unappealing enough, and a potential unity ticket is appealing enough, that there seems like a viable path to Electoral College victory,” he added.
The Daily Beast reported that No Labels has solicited big Republican donors over the years including David Koch, the late husband of Julia Koch; former AIG head Hank Greenberg; billionaire hedge-fund manager Paul Singer, and others.
Manchin told the assembled donors that he needed help flipping a handful of Republicans from no to yes on the January 6 commission in order to strip the “far left” of their best argument against the filibuster. The filibuster is a critical priority for the donors on the call, as it bottles up progressive legislation that would hit their bottom lines. When it came to Sen. Roy Blunt, a moderate Missouri Republican who voted no on the commission, Manchin offered a creative solution. ‘Roy Blunt is a great, just a good friend of mine, a great guy,’ Manchin said. ‘Roy is retiring. If some of you all who might be working with Roy in his next life could tell him, that’d be nice and it’d help our country. That would be very good to get him to change his vote. And we’re going to have another vote on this thing. That’ll give me one more shot at it.
“With the help of my staff, I’m honored to have lent my support for several events in the state: Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns event in Ranson; ribbon cutting for AMB Tires and Wheels in Beckley; ribbon cutting and flag presentation for Grand Vue Water Park in Marshall County; certificates and pocket constitutions presentation to HCPI students at Marshall University,” the newsletter read.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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