Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he believes the United States was “not designed” for the level of division currently seen within the country, leaving many “common-sense” Americans without a political home.
The lawmaker, who appears open to a third-party run for president in 2024, said during an appearance on WABC 770 AM’s “The Cats Roundtable” talk show that political parties in Washington, D.C., are the problem, not average citizens.
“The political parties have become so extreme — going to the extreme left and extreme right — that the average common-sense people don’t have a home,” Manchin told host John Catsimatidis in the interview that aired on Sunday. “They’ve been left politically homeless.”
The comments were in response to a question from Catsimatidis on Manchin’s appearance last week at a No Labels forum in New Hampshire — a political group that is pushing for a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election — where Manchin did not rule out a potential run and said the point of the group is “to make sure the American people have an option,” according to CNN.
During his interview on “The Cats Roundtable,” Manchin said he believes the United States was “not designed to be this divided,” and blamed that division on the political parties in D.C.
“The people of America aren’t divided. The people in New York aren’t divided, or in West Virginia,” Manchin said. “It’s basically the political parties in Washington with their business model that they get better returns and their business does much better when you’re fighting and dividing each other versus uniting each other.”
Manchin, who is a former governor of West Virginia, argued that Washington is tainted in part by party division and insisted that he has always felt “very comfortable” in the middle.
“The extreme left and right cannot continue to be the only two choices you have,” Manchin said. “You should have another choice to where it makes them understand and realize they might not be in the majority — even though they think they are — they might not be.”
While West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, has already launched a campaign for Manchin’s Senate seat, Manchin has yet to announce his plans for re-election. Two weeks ago, Justice’s campaign announced it had raised roughly $1 million in the second quarter of 2023. Manchin has previously indicated that he will make a decision about his political future by the end of this year.
At the No Labels forum, Manchin said he was there “basically to save the nation,” warning that he is more concerned for the country now than at any other time in his life.
“I’ve never been in any race I’ve ever spoiled. I’ve been in races to win,” Manchin told forum attendees. “And if I get in a race, I’m going to win.”
Some Democrats are rallying against a third-party run from Manchin, raising concerns that it could pull more votes from President Joe Biden than Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, hurting their preferred candidate’s chances of keeping the White House.