Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced on Feb. 16 he will not run for the White House.
“I will not be seeking a third-party run,” he said in West Virginia. “I will not be involved in a presidential run.”
He continued, “I will be involved in making sure that we secure a president that has the knowledge and has the passion and has the ability to bring this country together.”
Mr. Manchin, 76, explored a possible third-party run. But he said it would be “very challenging” and a “deal-breaker” or “spoiler.”
“The system right now is not set up for [it]. [In] the long game, maybe we can make a third party viable where it has a process and opportunity. Right now, it’s very challenging,” he said.
“And I’m not going to be a deal breaker, if you will, spoiler, whatever you want to call it,” he continued. “I just don’t think it’s the right time.”
Mr. Manchin announced in November he would retire from Congress after a 25-year career in politics.
Mr. Manchin, 76, made his announcement in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“After months of deliberation and long conversation with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I have set out to do for West Virginia,” he said. “I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate.”
The centrist senator’s decision to not seek reelection is a blow to Democrats, who are projected by analysts to lose the Senate next year as they’ll need to defend as many as 10 vulnerable seats.
At the time, he said he would be “traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”
In January, he went on his “Americans Together” tour in New Hampshire.
After addressing a crowd at the annual “Politics & Eggs” breakfast at St. Anselm College, Mr. Manchin told The Epoch Times that his Americans Together tour “was a start to getting out there and talking to Americans,” but refused to say if it was a start to a presidential campaign.
However, when asked by an audience member who turned out to be a native of Mr. Manchin’s home state of West Virginia about how he would feel about being a write-in candidate in New Hampshire’s upcoming primaries, Mr. Manchin said he would be receptive.
“How would you feel if a bunch of Democrats in New Hampshire wrote in Joe—not Biden—but Joe Manchin?” the man, who said he now lives in New Hampshire, asked Mr. Manchin.
“Whatever you want to do,” said Mr. Manchin, whose response was answered by applause from the mostly Democratic crowd, but with a mix-in of Republicans, such as former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who was among GOPers in attendance.
The man added that he is not a Democrat, but feels “bad for Democrats in New Hampshire who aren’t getting fair choice.”
In New Hampshire, Mr. Manchin called President Joe Biden someone who has lapsed to the “far left” and added to his criticism by calling out President Biden’s move to unilaterally convert federal energy legislation into environmental propaganda.
“We did a piece of legislation called the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Mr. Manchin. “That bill was designed to be about energy security, but the administration doesn’t talk about energy security, it talks about the environment.”
Mr. Manchin’s decision to step down from the Senate, where he has served since 2010, comes amid a tough reelection battle.
Although state offices were once dominated by Democrats in the coal-rich state, in recent decades, West Virginia has become a dark-red Republican stronghold. Mr. Manchin, through his moderate positions—appreciated by Republicans and a cause of constant tension with progressive Democrats—managed to hold onto his seat even as the rest of his state turned red.
However, due to his role in the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate-related bill in U.S. history, his future in the Senate became uncertain, and his seat was seen as a key Republican target in the 2024 election cycle.
