CHARLESTON – Senator Joe Manchin said this morning that he will not seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
“I am not running for office,” Manchin, a West Virginia senator who recently changed his registration to Independent, told CBS Mornings. “I will not be a candidate for president. …
“I don’t need this in my life.”
He also dismissed any suggestion that he might be on Harris’ shortlist for vice president.
“Believe me, it wasn’t me,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Manchin said people were “pushing in that direction” when he appeared on CNN This Morning again.
After President Joe Biden announced on July 21 that he would not seek reelection, Manchin said he believed neither Republican former President Donald Trump nor Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris nor any other Democrat who might be on the ballot would win the election “without the middle.” And Manchin said he plans to continue to “speak for the middle of this country” as an independent.
“Joe Biden came out of a very contentious primary in 2020 and rose because he was this moderate figure,” Manchin said on CBS. “He was always in the middle. He was able to make deals with people on the right and the left.”
Claiming that he thinks Harris is “absolutely” too left-wing, Manchin added that he thinks it would be a mistake for Democrats not to hold primaries to determine who should top the party ticket after Biden leaves office.
“I think it would help strengthen Kamala and her position,” Manchin said. “But that’s already been decided, so we’ll see what happens. I think it’s a mistake, but a mistake they made. …
“Why is everyone afraid to speak up? Why are they afraid to say, ‘This system is bad?’ The Democratic Party has gone too far left. The Republican Party has Donald Trump on the far right. People are looking to the middle, where are you going?
“Well, we’d like to see that. We’re not going to be able to see a vigorous, even three-week primary process. Nobody else wants to speak up. They’re just saying, ‘We’re falling behind, we’re going to get in line.’ I’m sorry, I disagree with that.”
On CNN, Manchin said he wants to give a voice to those in the middle.
“My main thing is that we have a voice,” he said. “I want the middle to have a voice. We are not far left, we are not far right. I do not live my life that way. Why do I have to have only two party choices?”
Reiterating that he thinks Harris is “too left-wing,” Manchin suggested that perhaps she could now become more moderate.
“You know, someone can be in one position and make a change or a change in direction,” said Manchin, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection to the Senate. “I would like to see a change in direction. And let’s see if that happens.
“But unless there’s a primary or some other kind of competition, you’re going to get what you get.”
