Republicans are renewing calls for moderate West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin to join the Republican Party. The renewed push comes after Manchin revealed he would not vote for President Biden’s build Back Better agenda, immediately welcoming harsh blowback from his own party.

Now, Texas Senator Ted Cruz urged Manchin to join the GOP.

According to The Daily Wire:

The Texas senator said he recently told Manchin, “Look, one of the two parties actually likes you,” according to the interview.

When asked about the possibility of Manchin switching from a Democrat to the Republican Party, Cruz offered an interesting response.

“A lot of folks ask, ‘Well, gosh, is Manchin going to become a Republican? I hope he does. I’ve asked him to. I think every Republican senator has made that case a dozen times to Joe,” Cruz said. The interview added:

“I will say I think it’s a tough hill for him to climb. He’s just culturally- he’s a Democrat. He’s been a Democrat his whole life and he’s really the godfather of Democrats in West Virginia. So I get why switching parties, that’s hard. That being said, if they’re nasty enough, the best thing that could happen is they could drive him over to the Republican Party and we would welcome him.” 

Sen. Cruz isn’t alone, even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Republican party is ready to welcome Manchin.

According to The Hill:

“As you know, he likes to talk,” McConnell said of Manchin. “It would not surprise you to know that I’ve suggested for years it would be a great idea, representing a deep-red state like West Virginia, for him to come over to our side.”

However, Sen. McConnell noted that he’s not optimistic Manchin will ever make the choice to switch parties.