Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said during an interview on Monday night that he decided not to run for president because of recent dysfunction that he saw in Congress.
Manchin made the remarks during a CNN interview with Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” while talking about the upcoming 2024 presidential race.
“I saw my friends walk away when they were determined to pass a border security, and they were on board three days before that,” Manchin claimed in the interview. “And with Donald Trump coming as hard as he came at them, they cower down and walked away. I said, ‘We’re not fixing anything in Washington.'”
Manchin said that he has repeatedly warned Biden and his staff that they’ve moved too far to the left and that they need a major course correction or else they will have a brutal time this November.
When asked about endorsing Biden, Manchin said: “I’m not endorsing anybody, right now. We’re gonna see what all happens, we still got plenty of time here. I’m gonna do everything I can to help move them back to the middle and show them where the strength of this country lies, where the voting bloc of the country lies, and extremes are going to be there no matter what. And I respect that. And I will do everything I can to make sure they have the ability to voice their opinion. But the minority does not rule the day.”
“I’m just I’m trying to do everything I can to make sure that we have a pathway forward where the center of this country is going to be represented. And that’s the center-left and center-right,” he continued. “That’s where the decisions, that’s where people live their lives. That’s the type of government they want. They don’t want the extremes. And what we’re seeing is extremes. Donald Trump is an extremist. And with that there’s people that are going in that direction. I still believe there’s enough good Republicans and Democrats that want this centrist type of approach to governing.”
When asked what he’ll do if it’s Biden vs. former President Donald Trump in November, he said he was not sure and that there may still be other people who decide to jump in the race.
WATCH:
News — Sen. Joe Manchin declines to endorse President Biden after announcing he won't seek his own presidential run. "I'm not endorsing anybody right now. We're gonna see what happens," he tells me. "We still got plenty of time here." pic.twitter.com/g1mLt9XPuB
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 20, 2024