After his speech Tuesday night, President Trump gave Sen. Joe Manchin a bro handshake and a bro hug. Now almost a quarter million liberals want Sen. Chuck Schumer to give the West Virginia Democrat the boot.

On Thursday dozens of activists plan to deliver 225,000 petitions to Schumer's office, asking the minority leader to kick the "Trump-apologist Joe Manchin from Senate Democratic Leadership." But they're mad about more than just the bipartisan meet-cute.

On Tuesday night, Manchin was one of the few Democrats hopping on their feet to applaud the president. Before that, he was one of the few Democrats willing to criticize the Obama administration's regulation on the coal industry. And now the blue senator from the red state has warmed up to Trump.

As his own party drifts further to the left, Manchin has become an anathema to the liberal base. He criticizes "the hard core left," invites the editors of Breitbart into his own office, and voted to confirm a dozen of Trump's cabinet nominees.

That's why an activist troupe headlined by 350.org and Democracy for America want to axe Manchin. Liberal opponents call Manchin "a conservative extremist" for bucking the party line, while conservative supporters think the senator is a tease for not leaving Democrats behind. But history is more likely to remember Manchin as a shrewd politician.

Praising Trump for a couple of months after hammering Obama for years hasn't been a bad strategy for Manchin. It's also logical. Manchin doesn't differ much from Trump on many fiscal and entitlement issues. And it's pragmatic because Manchin has to run for reelection in a state where Trump carried every single county.

Among the people who count to Manchin, those 225,000 signatures against the blue-dog Democrat count as endorsements.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.