Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) reflected Saturday on his vote on the repeal of the military's "
don't ask, don't tell" policy, saying he was "wrong" to vote "no."
In December 2010, Manchin broke with Democrats and
cast a vote against a procedural motion to advance "don't ask, don't tell" repeal legislation. When the Senate
voted to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy later that month,
Manchin skipped the vote to attend a "holiday gathering."
"That was the wrong vote," Manchin said at a Saturday breakfast hosted by National Journal and The Atlantic, which also featured MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. "Today I would vote the other way."
Kerry Eleveld, formerly of The Advocate, and BuzzFeed's John Stanton
tweeted from the breakfast:
Sen. Joe Manchin on his vote against dadt repeal: "That was the wrong vote...Today I would vote the other way." #p2 #lgbt
— Kerry Eleveld (@kerryeleveld) April 27, 2013
Sen Manchin says he now sees DADT vote was "a wrong vote." Votes no bc he didn't have enough info
— john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) April 27, 2013
Explaining his stance in December 2010, Manchin said he voted "no" because of the timing of the repeal.
“I do not support its repeal at this time,” Manchin
said. “I would like to make clear that my concern is not with the idea of repealing DADT, but rather an issue of timing.”
“My concerns, as highlighted in the recent defense survey and through the testimony of the service chiefs, are with the effect implementation of the repeal would have on our front line combat troops at this time,” he said.
Manchin is currently one of three Democrats in the U.S. Senate who have
not backed gay marriage.
.jpg)
