The White House contacted Manchin after Harris’ interviews in West Virginia

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The outreach comes after Harris’ clear move to put pressure on Manchin frustrated the conservative Democrat, something he made clear over the weekend.

The source declined to say what the White House said to Manchin or who from the White House called him, but the call underscores the delicate balancing act President Joe Biden faces as he and the Democrats try to keep a narrow majority in the Senate together to a sweeping Covid to pass. emergency plan – and other legislation this year.

The Senate’s 50-50 partisan division leaves little room for error for the White House, and Manchin will be a major voice for any package.

“We have been in touch with Senator Manchin, as we have for many weeks and we will continue to move forward,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

“He is not only an important partner for the president and the White House in this package, but also on his agenda and we will be in close contact with him,” she added.

Psaki did not say who spoke to Manchin in the White House in response to his comments about Harris’ interviews. When asked specifically if Biden himself had spoken to the senator, Psaki objected, saying that only the White House had been in touch.

Manchin seemed to express his frustration with a televised interview Harris recently conducted in his home state to promote the US bailout last week.

In an interview with WSAZ, a West Virginia affiliate of CNN, Manchin was upset with Harris’ interview with the same station that took place Thursday, suggesting the administration had not issued a warning to him.

‘I saw it. I could not believe it. Nobody called me, ”he said. ‘We are going to try to find a two-pronged way forward. I think we should do that, but we should work together. That is not a way of working together, what has been done. ‘

With new urgency, Biden is pleading with the American people for help with Covid-19

On Thursday, Harris promoted the $ 1.9 trillion Covid aid plan in interviews with television stations in West Virginia and Arizona – states home to Democrats whose votes could be critical to getting Covid’s aid, including Manchin in West Virginia and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, together with Senator Mark Kelly, who will be re-elected to the state in Arizona in 2022.

In an interview with WSAZ Thursday, Harris said she and Biden believe it is important to “work with a sense of urgency” to address public health and the economic crisis. The vice president praised the package, saying it is “about opening schools in a safe way, about getting support for small businesses, getting help for families.”

Harris also spoke about the economic situation of the West Virginia coal industry.

“All those skilled workers who are in the coal industry who are transferring those skills to what we need to do in terms of reclaiming abandoned landmines; what we need to do to plug leaks from oil and gas wells; and, these important skills to transfer. for the work that has yet to be done and that has to be done, ”she said.

Psaki declined to say on Monday whether Harris’ interview was specifically intended to put pressure on Manchin.

“Our focus is on communicating with the American people about how the American rescue plan can help put food on the table, ensure that we can get vaccines into Americans’ arms and send children back to school,” she said. “That’s our overarching goal with all the communication we do.”

This story has been updated with commentary from the White House.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

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