Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) addressed rumors surrounding his plans when it comes to the 2024 election.
Reporter for Punchbowl News Andrew Desiderio posted details of the conversation between Manchin and talk radio host Hoppy Kercheval.
When asked whether he is going to run again in 2024, Manchin said, “I don’t know.”
He then asked, “There’s nobody fighting for the middle — so where can I best fight for the middle?”
When it comes to running for the White House, Manchin told Kercheval he is not as they “sit here today.”
While Manchin said he is not running “today,” he explained that could change “two years from now, a year and a half from now.”
Manchin suggested, “You don’t know who the Democrat and Republican nominee are going to be,” adding, “My goal is to bring the country together.”
Manchin adds he is not running “today,” but that could change “two years from now, a year and a half from now.”
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) February 22, 2023
“You don’t know who the Democrat and Republican nominee are going to be,” he adds.
“My goal is to bring the country together”
Last week, Politico reported Gov. Jim Justice (R-W. Va.) appears to be the candidate with the best chances of defeating Manchin if he were to run again.
A survey from the Tarrance Group stated, “The data from this study shows that, across every single metric, Governor Jim Justice is far and away the strongest Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race in West Virginia, and the only tested potential candidate who currently leads Joe Manchin on a trial ballot test.”
Politico noted Justice has not determined whether he is entering the race yet, but he said he is “leaning” toward it.
During a question-and-answer session hosted by Semafor’s Steve Clemons earlier this month, Manchin stressed the importance of coming together as a nation.
“I can tell you one thing: I feel, like most Americans, we’ve got to come together. Americans want to be united, they want to be together and right now we’re going further apart,” he said.
Manchin added, “I’ve been [in Washington] 12 years. I don’t like what I see; I don’t the direction we’re going and I’m going to work and commit myself to try to get people who want to do the right thing to find the pathway forward, bringing the country back together.”