Conservative group rolls out $1.5 million ad buy pressuring Manchin, Tester to oppose Build Back Better

The Common Sense Leadership Fund rolled out a $1.5 million ad buy on Tuesday pressuring moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) to oppose President Biden's Build Back Better legislation.

The conservative group released a 30-second ad and a 15-second ad targeting Manchin in West Virginia and a 30-second ad targeting Tester in Montana. The ads will air on television and digital platforms.

"Joe Manchin already killed off Biden's radical agenda. Now Biden is bringing it back," one of the spots said. "New name, same liberal agenda."

The Hill was the first outlet to view the ads.

Manchin said during a Fox News interview last month that he could not support Biden's sweeping climate and social spending package in its $2 trillion form, effectively stalling the legislation. Last week, the West Virginia senator said that negotiations on the legislation "would be starting from scratch." His recent comments appeared to rule out any quick comeback of the legislation.

The Democratic senator told reporters last week that he hadn't yet heard from the White House on trying to break up the package and said Thursday that he didn't have any meetings set up with the White House.

Biden said last week that he believed the package could be broken up, citing the $555 billion in climate spending as common ground.

"I've been talking to a number of my colleagues on the Hill," the president said. "I think it's clear that we would be able to get support for the 500-plus billion dollars for energy and the environment."

Tester said last week that funding to combat climate change should not be delayed.

"I just came off the worst year ever on my farm," Tester said, according to Vox. "We need to do something on climate change. I think we spent $144 billion this year on disasters, and I don't think that included crop insurance. So we need to do something on climate, too."

It's unclear what a slimmed-down Build Back Better bill would look like; however, Democrats are eager to pass the legislation ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans, on the other hand, have continued to hammer Democrats over the mammoth piece of legislation, arguing it will hurt the economy, which is already dealing with record high inflation.

"Democrats are the Terminator of terrible policy. Despite crushing defeats, they keep emerging from the flames to resume their mission to remake America in their dystopian vision," said Common Sense Leadership Fund President Kevin McLaughlin. "All red-state Democrat senators need to stand up for the people who elected them and put this disastrous spending bill in a vat of molten steel and destroy it once and for all so America can move forward."