Bette Midler apologizes for Twitter 'outburst' calling West Virginia 'poor, illiterate': 'I'm just seeing red'
'Hocus Pocus' star was speaking out against Joe Manchin's opposition to the Build Back Better Act
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bette Midler is walking back an insult.
The 76-year-old performer is known for speaking her mind on Twitter – especially when it comes to politics.
On Monday, she took to social media to slam Joe Manchin, West Virginia's Democratic senator who has announced that he's against the Build Back Better Act, which would expand the country's social safety net.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible," Midler tweeted. "He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out."
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It wasn't long before the singer started taking heat for her comments, with many followers commenting and voicing their distaste for what she said about the state.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}About an hour later, the "Hocus Pocus" star issued an apology.
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"I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst," she wrote online. "I’m just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise. Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Any backlash Midler received didn't slow her roll, however, as it wasn't long before she took another shot at Manchin.
When Congressman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., slammed Manchin's decision, the singer responded with: "His indifference is immense. Like the rest of his family, he hasn’t a shred of conscience."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News has reached out to Sen. Manchin's reps for comment.
Speaking with "Fox News Sunday," Manchin said he has spoken with President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., but could not reach an agreement on the Build Back Better Act.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I've done everything humanly possible," Manchin said, talking about how hard he has worked to try to reach an acceptable compromise on the bill.
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In the end, however, he said that with ongoing inflation, the national debt, "geopolitical unrest," and the COVID-19 pandemic, the bill being pushed by his fellow Democrats was too much.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report