'This is how the elite feel about normal Americans': Bette Midler, 76, draws the ire of conservatives AND liberals after branding people in West Virginia 'poor, illiterate and strung out' during attack on Manchin

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Bette Midler has come under fire from both conservatives and liberals after she tweeted that Senator Joe Manchin ‘wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia…poor, illiterate, and strung out.’

The First Wives Club actress infuriated thousands with her snobbish missive, which said: 'What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible.

'He sold us out.

'He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia.

'Poor, illiterate and strung out.'

Criticism for Midler's high-handed comments quickly poured in from both conservatives and liberals.  

Mike Schlossberg, a Democratic state legislator from Pennsylvania, criticized Midler, tweeting: 'Respectfully: This isn't helping. "I AM SMARTER THAN YOU SO AGREE WITH ME" has never convinced anyone. Ever.'

Another Twitter user wrote to Midler: 'You suck as a person.'

Bette Midler (left) has come under fire from both conservatives and liberals after she tweeted that Senator Joe Manchin (right) ‘wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia…poor, illiterate, and strung out.’

Midler tweeted: 'What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible. He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.'

One Twitter user commented: 'Do you feel good tweeting this from your mansion in LA?'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'This is just a simple reminder of how the "elite" feel about normal Americans.

'She isn't the only one but rather a representative of many.

'Remember this when you think about voting blue next time around.'

'Just stop...when was the last time that you were here?' another Twitter user wrote.

'How many people have you met from WV? Enough with the stereotypes.

'I am glad that he voted against this massive spending bill, and so are the majority of the WV people.'

A Twitter user who identified herself as Jane Donovan wrote: 'Bette, that's not fair. West Virginia is full of good people who work hard and take care of each other.

'Dealing in stereotypes doesn't help.'

Another angry Twitter user wrote: 'I have lived in WV my entire life. I have two college degrees and a well-paying job.

Mike Schlossberg, a Democratic state legislator from Pennsylvania, criticized Midler, tweeting: 'Respectfully: This isn't helping. "I AM SMARTER THAN YOU SO AGREE WITH ME" has never convinced anyone. Ever.'

A Twitter user who identified herself as Jane Donovan wrote: 'Bette, that's not fair. West Virginia is full of good people who work hard and take care of each other. Dealing in stereotypes doesn't help.'

'My husband owns a successful small business. We are homeowners and don't use drugs.

'Bette is using politics as an excuse to be hateful.'

Midler, the Oscar-nominated actress and acclaimed singer-songwriter, later apologized for the tweet, which she attributes to ‘seeing red’ over Manchin’s decision not to support President Joe Biden’s social spending plan, with that opposition effectively killing the huge bill. 

'I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst,' the prominent Democratic Party supporter tweeted on Monday.

'I'm just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise.

'Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens?

'Surely there's someone there who has the state's interests at heart, not his own!'

Manchin, the centrist Democrat, represents West Virginia, a deep-red state that voted overwhelmingly for Biden’s opponent, former President Donald Trump, in the last presidential election.

The senator has come under intense pressure from progressive Democrats for announcing he would vote down Biden’s Build Back Better plan - a $2trillion spending proposal that would seek to address climate change and other key issues.

Another Twitter user wrote to Midler: 'You suck as a person.'

One Twitter user commented: 'Do you feel good tweeting this from your mansion in LA?'

One Twitter user wrote: 'Majority of my family is from WV and each and everyone of them has a higher level of education than you'

'Just stop...when was the last time that you were here?' another Twitter user wrote. 'How many people have you met from WV? Enough with the stereotypes. I am glad that he voted against this massive spending bill, and so are the majority of the WV people.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'This is just a simple reminder of how the "elite" feel about normal Americans. She isn't the only one but rather a representative of many. Remember this when you think about voting blue next time around.'

This Twitter user said it was 'hard to stomach a comment that appears to attack a category of human beings'

Midler, the Oscar-nominated actress and acclaimed singer-songwriter, apologized for the tweet, which she attributes to ‘seeing red’ over Manchin’s decision not to support President Joe Biden’s social spending plan

What happened to your seething statement, Jen? Psaki insists Biden and Manchin are 'longtime friends' and the 'door is open' to continue negotiations - 24 hours after White House attack

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday offered a dramatic change in tone when speaking about Senator Joe Manchin, calling him a 'longtime friend' of Joe Biden's and saying the administration is ready to 'work like hell' to pass the president's signature legislation.

Her friendly words were a 180 from 24 hours earlier when Psaki slammed Manchin following his shocking announcement on Fox News Sunday that he would not vote for Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better legislation. Psaki essentially called Manchin a liar who had betrayed the White House.

But on Monday she said the president and his team were moving forward and 

'I think Senator Manchin had a strong statement yesterday and we had a strong statement as well. And we're ready to move forward and get this done and work like hell to do that with Senator Manchin with members of the Democratic caucus across the Democratic Party, and that's our focus,' Psaki said at the daily White House press briefing.  

She called her harsh Sunday statement a 'statement of facts of the events of what happened over the last few weeks. And it was simply an effort to make that clear to the American people.'

President Biden sees the West Virginia senator as a 'longtime friend,' she said.  'He considers Senator Manchin a longtime friend and our focus is on moving forward and getting this done.' 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday offered a dramatic change in tone when speaking about Senator Joe Manchin

She declined to say if Biden and Manchin have spoken since. 

The two men spoke Sunday night, Politico reported, and their talk ended with the sense that negotiations would resume in January. 

Manchin did not inform Biden of his decision to vote no. 

Less than 30 minutes before his announcement, one of his aides was told to give the White House and congressional leadership a heads up, Politico's Playbook reported.   

'We tried to head him off,' a senior White House official said, claiming Manchin 'refused to take a call from White House staff' before the interview. 

Manchin was also said to be furious at a Thursday statement from the White House where Biden conceded his legislation was stalled in the Senate and named Manchin three times.

He hinted at his fury when reporters on Capitol Hill asked if he agreed with the statement.

'That was his statement,' he said Thursday of Biden. 

The senator was given a head's up by the White House on the statement and that his name would be in it. But he asked he not be called out because of the continual harassment he and his family have been receiving from protesters, Politico reported.

But the statement went out with his name in it. Manchin snapped at White House aides and told them that he was done negotiating, which the administration interpreted as talks would resume in the New Year. Instead of Manchin went on Fox News and announced his no vote.

Psaki also wouldn't comment on reports that Manchin made the administration a counter offer on Biden's legislation. 'I'm just not going to assess or give you an update on specifics from here,' she said.

Manchin reportedly told the White House he could support a $1.8 trillion package that included universal pre-kindergarten for 10 years, an expansion of Obamacare and hundreds of billions of dollars to combat climate change, The Washington Post reported.

But Manchin could not support an extension of the expanded child tax credit, which Biden and many Democrats support, seeing it as a way to raise children out of poverty. 

The Huffington Post reported that Manchin told several of his fellow Democrats that he thought parents would waste the money on drugs instead, citing two sources familiar with the senator's comments.  

Joe Manchin tore into White House staff and his fellow Democrats, blaming them for his decision to vote 'no' on Biden's signature Build Back Better bill

Manchin's Communications Director Sam Runyon told DailyMail.com that the senator supports the child tax credit.

'Senator Manchin has made clear he supports the child tax credit and believes the money should be targeted to those who need it most. He has also expressed support for a paid leave program that has a dedicated, sustainable funding mechanism,' Runyon said. He did not address the allegations in the Huffington Post report. 

Meanwhile Manchin tore into White House staff and his fellow Democrats on Monday, blaming them for his decision not to support Biden's Build Back Better legislation. 

He accused Democrats of badgering him and beating 'the living crap' out of him as they tried to get his vote. And he said White House staff know the 'real reason' he said he wouldn't vote for Biden's $1.75 trillion package of social safety net programs.

'They know the real reason what happened. They won't tell you, and I'm not going to,' Manchin told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval about Biden's staff.

Psaki, in her press briefing, didn't offer her thoughts on what Manchin meant in his comments about White House staff, saying the senator should answer that.

In the radio interview, the senator from West Virginia was careful not to blame President Biden, who had spoken personally to Manchin several times last week. But his strong words about Biden's staff indicate relations are not good between him and the White House.   

'It's not the president,' Manchin said. 'It's the staff. And they drove some things and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is. And that's it.'

He said he was at his 'wit's end' but he didn't specify what exactly drove him to that point.   

Manchin also had tough words for Democratic leaders. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi had personally negotiated with him. 

'They figured surely to God we can move one person. Sure that we can badger and beat one person up. Surely we can get enough protestors to make that person uncomfortable enough they'll just say 'okay i'll vote for anything' just quit,' he said, referencing protesters who swarmed his houseboat on the Potomac River and waited for him outside the Capitol building.

'I'm from West Virginia. I'm not from where they're from and they can't just beat the living crap out of people and think they'll be submissive. Period,' he added. 

President Joe Biden returned to the White House on Monday after spending the weekend in Wilmington, Delaware 

Psaki, in her blistering statement, noted Manchin has been in negotiations with the administration up to the point he announced his opposition to the bill.  Biden reportedly personally approved the statement.

She said Manchin's comments on Fox 'represent 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.' 

Manchin on Monday shrugged off her statement, where she essentially called him a liar.  

'I figured they'd come back strong,' he said. 

He also hinted Democrats, many of whom harshly criticized him in the wake of his Sunday announcement, could drive him from the party.  

'I'm fiscally responsible and socially compassionate,' Manchin said when asked if there's still a place for him in the Democratic Party.

'Now, if there's no Democrats like that, then they have to push me wherever they want me,' he added.

Manchin won re-election in 2018 by four points. He is up again in 2024. In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump beat Biden in the state by 39 points.  

The senator from West Virginia also chided Democrats for acting like they had a majority in the 50-50 Senate. In the evenly split body, Biden needed every Democratic vote to pass his signature legislation.  

'This is a 50-50 Senate. You all are approaching legislation as if you had 55 or 60 senators or Democrats, and you can do whatever you want. Well, you know what, we're all a little bit diverse. I said, I'm not a Washington Democrat,' he said.

He also wouldn't commit to accepting a scaled-back version of Biden's social safety net program.  

Biden returned to the White House Monday morning after spending the weekend in Wilmington. He and Democratic leaders will be debating next steps, including the possibility of retooling his signature legislation yet again to get Manchin's vote. 

The Build Back Better plan already saw its topline number cut in half - much to the frustration of progressives in the party - in order to garner Manchin's support. 

Schumer announced Monday morning there will be a vote on Biden's bill when the Senate returns in January. The House passed the legislation this month.

'Senators should be aware that the Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television,' the Senate majority leader wrote in a letter to colleagues.

'We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act – and we will keep voting on it until we get something done,' Schumer added.

He said Democrats will hold a 'virtual Special Caucus on the evening of Tuesday, December 21, the longest night of the year.'

It's unclear whether or not Manchin will join that meeting.  

Senator Joe Manchin had tough words for Democratic leaders. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi had personally negotiated with him

Last week, the Senate Democratic Leader announced he was pushing a vote on Build Back Better until after the New Year to give Manchin more time to negotiate with Biden.

The Senate adjourned on Friday.

On Sunday, Manchin went on Fox News and dropped his bombshell.

'I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation,' he said. 

'I just can't,' he told Fox News Sunday host Bret Baier. 'I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there.'

He added: 'This is a no.' 

Psaki said on Sunday the White House will continue to apply pressure on Manchin in hopes he will 'again' change his mind on the bill.

'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,' she said. 

'Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced,' she added.

'Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework 'in good faith.'

But Manchin told Fox:  'This is a mammoth piece of legislation and I had my reservations from the beginning when I heard about it five-and-a-half months ago.'   

Democrats and progressives were immediately furious at Manchin.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday railed against Manchin and the United States Senate, calling for reforms in the institution, which she described as an 'old boys' club,' and demanding Manchin face 'consequences' for killing Biden's  Build Back Better bill. 

She urged the president to use the power of his executive pen to take action on his $1.75 trillion legislation of social safety programs. 

'It is unconscionable the way the Senate operates. It's fundamentally undemocratic,' she said on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin effectively killed BBB on Sunday when he said: 'I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there. This is a no'

The Democratic congresswoman from New York, who has not ruled out challenging Senator Chuck Schumer in the 2022 Democratic primary, called for a 'crackdown on the Senate which operates like an old boy's club that has a couple of gals.'

She called on the Senate to hold a vote anyway on Biden's signature legislation, which Schumer, as Senate leader, said on Monday morning he plans to do when the Senate comes back in session in January.  

Ocasio-Cortez reiterated her call for an end to the filibuster in the Senate. She also pushed Biden to make use of his executive power. 

'It takes the president of the United States, who I believe needs to be more forceful on the filibuster. He needs to also lean, I believe, on his executive authority and say if you're going to get in the way, we're going to find other ways to do this.'

She added if senators want to block legislation, they should show up on the Senate floor and actually do it - not go on Fox News and threaten to do so. 

She was referencing Manchin's interview on Fox News Sunday, where he made his shocking announcement he would not vote for Biden's legislation, effectively killing it. In the 50-50 Senate, Biden needs every Democratic vote for it to pass. 

Many Democrats, including the White House, senators and Ocasio-Cortez and her liberal allies, reacted in anger to Manchin's announcement, accusing him of ambushing the president with the news or misleading negotiators. 

Ocasio-Cortez also slammed other Republican senators for blocking Biden's nominations. GOP Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley had all placed holds on various nominees. 

'This idea that we can just go on Fox News or go on any -- and legislate through television, and say that we are going to threaten to block ambassadorships, or threaten a filibuster or threaten to vote no, have that result in actual institutional inaction is unacceptable,' she said.

'There are certain reforms that can be made within the culture of the Senate,' she said. 

'We have to break those cultural norms that the Senate is very entitled, very privileged and very protected. And say we are not going to allow that deference to membership just because of the self-importance of the institution.'

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for reforms in the Senate, railing against it as an institution and calling it an 'old boys club'

President Joe Biden spent the weekend in Wilmington and returned to the White House on Monday morning where he and advisers will discuss next steps on his legislation

She also dismissed a question about whether Biden's Build Back Better bill should be retooled in order to gain Manchin's support.  

'The bill has already been retrofitted to Joe Manchin's liking. Let's make that extremely clear,' she said, citing the toned down climate provisions and lower Medicaid expansion. 

'We need to really make it very clear that this bill, this framework was signed off by Joe Manchin. And so this is a Joe Manchin Build Back Better Act. And so this idea that we're going to go back to the table and give him the pen again for a bill that has already has his ink all over makes very little sense,' she added. 

Manchin also expressed concerns about the effect the bill would have on inflation, which is already at its highest rate in nearly forty years. He also questioned provision on paid family leave and the extension of the Child Tax Credit.

Ocasio-Cortez complained that the Democratic senator from West Virginia 'strung' Democrats along over the past year and slammed Manchin for announcing his opposition after the Senate recessed for the year on Friday. 

'The Senate adjourned on Friday. And then he waited until everyone was on vacation to say no, I'm not going to vote for this. He waited until there was a moment of minimal pressure when he didn't have to go back into the Senate, when all of this stuff was happening. This is a very calculated timing,' she said. 

Senator Bernie Sanders was also furious with Manchin.

'Well, I think he's gonna have a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia,' Sanders told CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning. 

'The American people have got to understand what is at stake,' Sanders said on CNN. 'For decades what Congress has been doing, giving tax breaks to the rich, not standing up to the drug companies.'  

'The president of the United States and Democrats have been trying finally to address these issues,' he added.

'If Mr. Manchin doesn't want to support us – well look, we've been dealing with Mr. Manchin for month after month after month,' Sanders said. 'But if he doesn't have the courage to do the right thing for the working families of West Virginia and America, let him vote no in front of the whole world.' 

Rep. Cori Bush, a progressive Democrat from St. Louis, also blasted Manchin on Sunday, tweeting: 'Honestly, I'm frustrated with every Democrat who agreed to tie the fate of our most vulnerable communities to the corporatist ego of one Senator.'

'No one should have backed out of our initial strategy that would have kept Build Back Better alive.' Bush added, calling out Biden by writing: '@POTUS, you need to fix this.'

Senator Bernie Sanders immediately condemned Manchin's remarks on Sunday, telling CNN: 'Well, I think he's gonna have a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia'. He also called for a Senate vote so it forces Manchin to 'vote no in front of the whole world'

Progressives immediately slammed Manchin for coming out against the legislation, including 'squad' members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York (left), Cori Bush from Missouri (center) and Ilhan Omar (right)

Bush blasted Manchin in a Sunday tweet and called on President Joe Biden to 'fix this'

Omar called Manchin's reasons for killing the bill 'bulls**t' – he noted 'inflation' as one reason

'If they forced folks to go on record with [the bipartisan infrastructure bill], they can force the Senate to go on record with BBB,' she wrote in another tweet later on Sunday.

Representative Ilhan Omar from Minnesota tweeted Sunday: 'Let's be clear: Manchin's excuse is bulls**t,'

'The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans,' she added. 'This is exactly what we warned would happen if we separated Build Back Better from infrastructure.'

Omar told MSNBC she knew Manchin 'couldn't be trusted.'

Rashida Tlaib, the progressive congresswoman from Michigan, slammed Manchin for his 'betrayal of his constituents' and urged the Senate to move ahead and hold the vote.

Representative Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts, part of the 'squad', said she 'absolutely' agrees with bringing a vote on BBB to put Manchin on the record about his opposition – despite him already admitting on national television that he will not support the legislation.

'To be clear, my lack and deficit of trust was about Senator Manchin,' Pressley told CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union Sunday morning. 'He has continued to move the goalposts. He has never negotiated in good faith. And he is obstructing the president's agenda, 85 per cent of which is still left on the table.'

'And in obstructing the president's agenda, he is obstructing the people's agenda,' she added.

'I was listening to his interview earlier today, and he said it's a mammoth bill/ You're right. It's a mammoth bill to address mammoth hurt, to lower the cost of eldercare, child care, prescription drug costs, the child tax credit, which is so critical in combating child poverty.'

She accused Manchin of 'obstructing the people's agenda'.