West Virginia independent Sen. Joe Manchin made an appearance on “CBS Mornings” on Monday where he made it clear that, as of now, he has no plans to run for president. The announcement comes after President Joe Biden revealed on Sunday that he would be dropping out of the presidential race, leaving the Democratic Party nomination open for a new candidate.
“I am not going to be a candidate for president,” Manchin went on to say during the interview. “I am a candidate for basically speaking to the middle of this country.”
Here’s more from CBS News:
Manchin called for Democrats to hold a “mini primary” to “find out if you have the strongest candidate,” but added that it now “seems to be predetermined by President Biden.”
Mr. Biden has thrown his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, although he cannot appoint a nominee. While many Democrats are already lining up behind Harris, a number of prominent members of the Democratic Party — including leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries — have not yet thrown their support behind her. If Harris gets support from party leaders and delegates, she could be nominated as soon as the Democrats hold their virtual roll-call vote on Aug. 1.
If Democrats do not line up behind a candidate, there could be an open convention, in which a candidate would be chosen by delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
During his appearance on the program, Manchin stated that Harris is too far to the left politically, but then said, “let’s see if she comes back.”
“You know, a person can be in one position and make a change, or a direction change,” Manchin explained. “I would like to see that direction change. And let’s see if that would happen. But unless you have a contested primary, or some type of contest, you’re going to get what you’ve got.”
Manchin, who is not running for reelection to the Senate, has come out against former President Donald Trump, although Trump is very popular in his state. He insisted Monday that he is not trying to throw the election to Trump.
Manchin revealed that the reason he’s making television appearances right now is so he can have a platform for “speaking what I believe in my heart and I believe 51% of us in the center of this country, which we call the sensible moderates.”
The former Democrat then heaped praise on the president, who he served alongside in the Senate, going on to say that Biden “always made good decisions and the right decision, even though I would agree or disagree.”
I don’t think so, Joe.
If you think ending the Keystone Pipeline XL and making America even more dependent on foreign oil, increasing inflation, and trashing people’s rights is a good decision, I think it’s time you retire. Like now, not at the end of your term.
“We did it respectfully and can talk through it, we call each other and we were having good conversations and always counted on Joe making the right decision,” Manchin stated in the interview.
Manchin concluded the interview by noting he thinks a president’s term should be six years instead of four. Yeah, hard pass here, buddy.