Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz praised Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Monday over his recent pledge to vote against the Build Back Better Act and said that Democrats’ “nasty” responses to the news could lead the moderate Democrat to join the Republican Party.

Manchin said Sunday during a Fox News interview that he “cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation,” prompting staunch criticisms from the White House and Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate.

“I think Joe’s decision was the right decision. I think it’s a really big deal,” Cruz told Fox News at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix. “The Build Back Broke Bill was a disaster. It was a train wreck. It was Bernie Sanders’ socialist budget. It was trillions in new spending, trillions in new debt, trillions in new taxes, it would have driven inflation through the roof.”