Former Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) said that comments from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination were proof that the Democratic Party was “getting worse, not better.”

Manchin joined CNN host Kasie Hunt to discuss the current political climate, and she began by referring to Ocasio-Cortez’s comments objecting to the Congressional resolution to honor the recently-murdered conservative commentator.

WATCH:

Former Democrat Senator Joe Manchin TORCHES AOC over her vile rhetoric about Charlie Kirk during a vote to condemn his assassination:

“If that’s the way the Democrat Party is going, it’s getting worse, not better.” pic.twitter.com/D7W18ohKlN

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 19, 2025

“She does say that we should ‘be clear about who Charlie Kirk was, a man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted black Americans the right to vote was a mistake,'” Hunt began. “She goes on to name some of the other things that he believes in. What was your reaction to her vote and to her statement afterward?”

“First of all, I just saw a little while ago, and I was stunned, Kasie. I really was,” Manchin replied. “This is not the place and the time for that at all. If the Democrats — if AOC and the far Left, the extreme Left I want to say — believe that’s where the party, the Democratic Party, is today, then that’ll tell you why you lost people like me, and an awful lot.”

“Now, let me tell you what you’ve lost,” Manchin continued. “Since the last election, they’ve been doing their national tour and thinking, boy, that’s something, we’re really getting into something. The Democratic Party has lost more than 160,000 Democrats that have basically left the party since the November election. So if that’s the way the Democrat Party is going, it’s getting worse, not better.”

Ocasio-Cortez was not the only one to use the resolution as an opportunity to smear Kirk and his legacy.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ):

My statement on the House vote on the Charlie Kirk resolution. pic.twitter.com/bU0GAG6WD2

— Rep. Mikie Sherrill (@RepSherrill) September 19, 2025

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS):

Today, I voted against the Charlie Kirk Resolution.

While I condemn his violent murder, this resolution sought to elevate Charlie Kirk as a role model.

I could not support in good conscience.

Read my statement below: pic.twitter.com/LLou7Xq8on

— Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (@BennieGThompson) September 19, 2025

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA):

Charlie Kirk’s death is a tragedy, and I condemn all political violence from wherever it comes.

House Republicans designed today’s resolution as a political “gotcha” — one that attempts to put words in my mouth to endorse Kirk’s views.

I cannot do that, so I voted “no.” pic.twitter.com/9BuYajl7J8

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) September 19, 2025

Taiwan’s message to the international community is that it is determined to defend itself and that people should not believe any claim it has surrendered in the event of invasion, President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday, capping a week of defense events.

Democratically-governed Taiwan has faced stepped up military pressure from China, which views the island as its own territory. Taiwan’s government rejects those claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

Addressing a forum on Taiwan’s efforts to boost its preparations for natural disaster or war, Lai referenced the government’s new civil defence handbook, which was launched on Tuesday as part of efforts to get people ready for a possible Chinese attack.

The handbook gives vital information on how to stay safe, he said to an audience that included Western envoys to Taipei.

“More importantly, we tell everyone, ‘In the event of a military invasion of Taiwan, any claim that the government has surrendered or that the nation has been defeated is false,'” Lai said, quoting one of the key messages in the handbook.

“As commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic of China, I want to tell my fellow citizens and the international community that this is Taiwan’s position,” he said, using Taiwan’s formal name.

“We are determined to defend freedom and democracy and a sustainable Taiwan.”

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Taiwan this week hosted its largest ever arms show, drawing a host of international companies looking to win a share of the island’s rapidly increasing defense spending.

Taiwan is also actively courting global defense companies for closer collaboration, such as joint production of weapons.

Speaking separately on Saturday at the opening of a branch office in Taipei, Brandon Tseng, president of U.S. company Shield AI, said his company could have hundreds of employees in Taiwan over the next three to five years.

“It’s a region that Shield AI is deeply investing in and deeply committed to,” said Tseng, who chatted with Lai on Friday as he visited the arms show, where the company was showcasing its V-BAT drones that have been combat-tested in Ukraine.

Shield AI this month signed a “teaming agreement” with Taiwan government defense contractor Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, although Tseng declined to give details on possible sales to the island.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Tom Hogue)