Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who recently turned Independent, told “CBS Mornings” he is still not planning to run for president following President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday he would no longer seek reelection.
"I am not going to be a candidate for president," Manchin said Monday on the national news show. "I am a candidate for basically speaking to the middle of this country."
Manchin, who is known for criticizing more liberal ideologies from the Democratic party, added that he's not speaking out for attention and he doesn't need a presidential campaign.
The U.S. senator had already said back in February, when he was still a Democrat, that he would “not be involved in a presidential run.”
At the time, Democrats had feared Manchin would ditch the party and run as an independent against its presidential nominee and the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump.
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A couple of months later Manchin did, in fact, announce he would be leaving the Democratic Party and would now be considered an Independent. But he doesn't seem interested in campaigning for national office.
President Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s potential nominee, as well as many other leaders of the party. Hundreds of delegates have already pledged their support ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August, where a nominee will be formally chosen.
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However, Manchin said he thinks Democrats should hold a “mini primary” to choose its presidential candidate, he told CBS News.
Currently, the only third-party candidate running in the 2024 presidential election is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
