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Manchin faces firestorm at home following Kavanaugh vote

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is facing a political firestorm back home a day after he became the only Democrat to support President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is facing a political firestorm back home a day after he became the only Democrat to support President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

Republicans, including one of the president’s sons, are on the attack. But the most passionate criticism is coming from Manchin’s own Democratic base, a small but significant portion of the electorate he needs to turn out in force to win re-election next month.

One sexual assault survivor, a Democratic candidate for the state legislature, says she felt “raped all over again” when she learned of Manchin’s vote. Another county Democratic official says she’d abstain from voting in the Senate race.

Manchin praised the women who shared their stories of sexual trauma, but defended his vote as being based on fact, not emotion.