Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at his "end of the year news conference" spoke about meeting with Sen. Joe Manchin and said he does not believe the West Virginia Democrat would switch parties and become a Republican. McConnell said he admires Manchin's resistance to go "hard left" and lamented that there were more moderate Democrats under the Obama administration. "I want to commend Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin for having some respect for the institution," McConnell said of the Senate and the filibuster. "I would remind all of you, President Trump repeatedly suggested or insisted that I lead the charge to change the filibuster rule, I had a one-word answer, no. Changing the structure of the Senate in order to try to achieve a partisan advantage is a mistake for the Senate and a mistake for the country." "Have you ever asked him to join your party this year?" a reporter asked. "He likes to talk to everybody," McConnell said. "I enjoy our conversations. It would not surprise you to know that I have 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. I don't think that's going to happen but he would be the best one to answer that question. We do enjoy a cordial relationship and we do appreciate the fact that he seems to be one of the few remaining centrists left in the Democratic party. I don't know if any of you were here in the Obama years, we had way more moderate Democrats when Barack Obama was president than we do today. They seem to have all gone hard left. Joe has resisted that and I admire him for it." McConnell on the Senate floor today: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9YTVgNXm3yU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>