Home Depot co-founder and Republican donor Ken Langone is organizing one of his biggest fundraisers ''ever'' for West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday.
"I don't see leadership anyplace in this country. Thank God for Joe Manchin, by the way, the guy's got guts and courage. ... He's a Democrat, I'm a Republican. I'm going to have one of the biggest fundraisers I've ever had for him. He's special," Langone said.
Langone, worth around $6.4 billion according to Forbes, donated $534,600 to Republicans and $10,400 to Democrats in the 2020 election cycle with his wife, Elaine, per the Center for Responsive Politics.
Manchin, a centrist Democrat, prides himself as a fiscal conservative in his campaign ads.
Manchin and fellow centrist Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona were roadblocks in the passing of President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion Build Back Better (BBB) agenda.
"It's a lot of money, a lot of money," Manchin said ahead of a speech in which Biden laid out his BBB plan in April, according to Reuters. "That makes you very uncomfortable. You wonder how we're going to pay for it."
Due to their efforts, the bill was cut to around $1.75 trillion, with many tax increases kept out. Manchin has still not committed to voting for the scaled-back legislation, however.
"Nor will I support a package that risks hurting American families suffering from historic inflation," Manchin said regarding BBB. "I, for one, also won't support a multitrillion-dollar bill without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects of inflation."
The president signaled he would sign the less costly Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, also called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF), Reuters reported Monday.
Manchin voted for BIF, an act that provides his state at least $100 million to ensure broadband coverage.
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