LOYALTY: Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin defends daughter after tough EpiPen grilling.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) delivered a robust defense of his daughter, Mylan Pharmaceuticals CEO Heather Bresch, one day after House lawmakers rebuked her for the recent price increases of her company’s EpiPen allergy medication.

“We can criticize and beat the living crap out of anyone we want to, and that was proven yesterday. But does that solve the problem? Do they really want to solve the problem?” Manchin told CNN in his first public remarks about the EpiPen controversy, which has involved both his wife and daughter.

Bresch sat through about five hours of combative questioning by House members from both parties on Wednesday about her company’s decision to raise the price of its EpiPens, as well as her $19 million salary.

Manchin has so far stayed quiet about the issue that’s gripping Capitol Hill. But he weighed in Thursday to say the House panel could have been “more constructive” and said his colleagues weren’t trying hard enough to address the larger problem of rising medical costs.

He’s a loyal dad.