Senator Joe Manchin said in an interview that he decided against running for president due to dysfunction in Congress.
He recalled colleagues backing away from border security legislation due to pressure from Donald Trump.
Sen. Manchin said, “I saw my friends walk away when they were determined to pass a border security, and they were on board three days before that.”
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
“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,’” he continued.
Manchin warned that Biden has moved too far left, risking losses in November unless course corrected.
When asked, he did not endorse Biden and said it’s too early; he will try moving the party back to the center where most voters are.
Manchin explained, “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.”
He added, “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.”
Manchin believes the center-left and center-right represent how most people want to be governed, not extremes.
He expressed uncertainty about Biden vs. Trump in November and noted others may still enter the race.
“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,” concluded Manchin.
Overall, Manchin advocated for centrist governance and indicated he did not run for president due to partisan polarization in Washington.
