Independent West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin revealed Monday he does dot intend to enter the 2024 presidential race after facing accusations of being “thirsty” for the nomination.
Speculations arose that Manchin intended to compete for the Democratic nomination following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he withdrew his candidacy on Sunday. The West Virginia senator, who is not seeking reelection, put an end to those speculations by saying he is not planning on running for any sort of political office.
“No, no, I’m not intending to run for any political office. I’ve made that very clear, I’m retiring,” Manchin told “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski. “But I’m gonna be involved, and I like to have a voice and I think I speak for the majority of Americans that are in the middle like me. Fifty-one percent of us are registered to participate and vote, but we’re independents and twenty-three percent of that base is Democrat and twenty-five percent is Republican.”
Joe Manchin reveals whether or not he intends to enter presidential race pic.twitter.com/dq7FnhBERt
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CBS News’ Gayle King said during a Monday interview that Americans are finding Manchin to be “thirsty” by calling for a Democratic primary process ahead of the general election. The West Virginia senator argued it is “not a winning strategy” to dedicate a campaign to “demonizing” former President Donald Trump.
“Well I’m just saying, we know who Donald Trump is,” Manchin said. “He basically confronted who he was at the end of the convention, okay? And he does not recognize basically the orderly transfer of power, the election is not basically recognizing insurrection, he has threatened concerns over whether we’re going to support Ukraine or not. And then, the rule of law, the judicial. So there are concerns that are still there, but people know that. And they know what they’re getting there.” (RELATED: Donald Trump Responds After Joe Biden Drops Out Of 2024 Presidential Race)
“What they don’t know is to a contested primary, which I was hoping there’d be some form of a mini primary, other countries do it and do it very successfully in a short period of time. And only in America, Mika, do you have the next election start the day after the last election. So, I think it was all doable, but they made a decision not to, and it’s gonna be hard to find out where [support for Democratic candidates] have changed,” he continued.
Manchin refrained from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden endorsed minutes after dropping out of the race in a Sunday tweet. The West Virginia senator asserted that Biden “made the right decision” for the country, and has the chance to hold onto a good legacy.
“He made the right decision for himself, for his family, but most importantly for our country. And I think he has a chance, and I’ve said this before, he has a chance now to spend one hundred percent of his time trying to get peace in the Middle East, trying to solidify Ukraine’s position to win freedom. And also, to be able to show the rest of the world how the superpower transfers their power in an orderly, dignified and passionate way,” the senator said.
Manchin called for Biden to drop out during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” hours before the president’s announcement. The West Virginia senator joined 36 other Democrats in Congress to urge the 81-year-old president to step down following his disastrous performance at the June 27 debate, raising doubts on whether he could defeat Trump.
Among those Democrats included California Rep. Adam Schiff, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Vermont Sen. Pat Welch.
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