Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., again on Sunday would not rule out running for president in 2024 as a third-party candidate.
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Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., again on Sunday wouldn’t rule out running for president in 2024 as a third-party candidate
Manchin was asked about the possibility during an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”
Manchin said the country “better have a Plan B” in the event that the Republican and Democratic parties nominate far-right and far-left candidates.”
Manchin’s rhetoric mirrors the bipartisan, centrist group No Labels, which says it is working to nominate an independent presidential candidate on the 24th.
Manchin was asked about the possibility during an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”
“Not ruling anything out, not ruling anything out,” Manchin, 75, said.
Manchin said the country “better have a Plan B” in case the Republican and Democratic parties nominate far-right and far-left candidates.” A centrist option is needed, he said.
A moderate in a red state, Manchin has at times frustrated his fellow Democrats in the Senate, where his party has a razor-thin majority, by blocking parts of President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Manchin’s rhetoric mirrors the bipartisan, centrist group No Labels, which says it is working to nominate an independent presidential candidate on the 24th. Manchin is reportedly on its radar.
“No Labels has been moving and pushing very hard to a centrist center, making common sense decisions, people who basically expect us to do our jobs and not put political party ahead of the politics of our great country,” he said. Manchin.
“You’d better have Plan B because if Plan A shows that we’re going to the extremes of both sides, the extreme left and the extreme right, and that people don’t want to go to the extreme left and the “extreme right… they want to be governed from the middle”.
But Manchin would not say whether he himself would be that third choice. He also did not say whether he could run on a No Labels ticket or separately.
“I’m not saying who will include or exclude,” he said. “I’m saying you better have Plan B ready … because that’s what it’s going to take for this country to remain the world’s superpower.”
Nancy Jacobson, the co-founder and leader of No Labels, he told the New York Times Last month, the group will determine whether to nominate a ticket shortly after the March 5 Super Tuesday primary. It has scheduled a national convention for April 14-15 in Dallas.
Like Manchin, Jacobson said a no-label ticket would be “an insurance policy in case the two major parties run presidential candidates that the vast majority of Americans don’t support.”
Some Democrats have expressed concern that a major third-party candidate would divert votes from Biden and could help Donald Trump return to the White House.
Manchin also has not said whether he would seek re-election to the Senate next year. Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, both Republicans, have announced they are running for the seat. An East Carolina University survey Last week Justice led Manchin in a hypothetical general election 54% to 32%.
