Joe Manchin on Jade Helm 15: 'Please come to West Virginia'

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is puzzled about Texas’ paranoia over Operation Jade Helm 15, the military exercise set to take place in seven Southwestern states this summer that has generated a considerable amount of Internet-fueled rumors.

“I don’t know what’s going on in Texas. I don’t know the paranoia that goes on in Texas, but the people in West Virginia welcome — welcome the Special Forces exercises,” the Democratic senator said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”


“Please come to West Virginia,” he said. “We’ll welcome you with open arms. We’re not afraid of you, we embrace you, we want you to be part of us.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas National Guard to keep an eye on the military’s activities this summer, writing last month that constitutional rights, liberties, safety and property rights must be protected.

Manchin reiterated that he has “no clue” about what’s happening in Texas.

“I’m going to have to call my buddy [former Texas Gov.] Rick Perry and find out if he can give me the scoop on this,” he said.

For his part, Perry said Tuesday, in response to a question about Abbott’s order, that citizens should trust the Pentagon.

“It’s OK to question your government. I do it on a regular basis. But the military is something else,” Perry said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “Our military is quite trustworthy. The civilian leadership, you can always question that, but not the men and women in uniform.”