Joe Manchin declines to say whether he will run for president

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) declined to comment on whether or not he would run for president in 2024 after announcing recently that he would not be running for reelection in the Senate.

In an interview on CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell, Manchin spoke about the future of the country and his own political career, speaking for the first time since announcing he wouldn’t be running for reelection. As with most interviews in recent months, Manchin remained evasive, refusing to say whether he would run for president in 2024, but he dismissed concerns that doing so would guarantee a victory for former President Donald Trump.

BIDEN-XI MEETING HAS REPERCUSSIONS AT HOME AHEAD OF ELECTION: ‘THE US HAS ENOUGH ON ITS PLATE’

“It’s not about me. It’s not about the next election. I keep telling you; this is a movement,” Manchin answered when asked if he would run for president in 2024.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

“I don’t know what the future lies. I know that we can’t continue the direction we’re going,” he replied when asked if he was thinking about running.

While he definitively said he wouldn’t vote for Trump, he wouldn’t commit to voting for President Joe Biden either despite being a fellow Democrat.

“I’m a Democrat. I’m an American first. I’m an American. I’m an independent, I think; I don’t know what I am,” he said while chuckling. “I can tell you this: I feel comfortable working with both sides.”

He pushed back against claims that running would help elect Trump, saying he’s never bought the argument.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“I don’t buy that scenario,” Manchin said. “I’ve heard that, and I wouldn’t buy that scenario because if you look back in history, how things have played out, I don’t think they thought Ross Perot would elect Bill Clinton. Now that we see these polls with Bobby Kennedy Jr., [it] would be helping Joe Biden because it takes votes from Donald Trump. I’ve never been a spoiler in anything. I’ve never tried to. I compete the best I possibly can. I compete to win.”

The West Virginia Democrat also addressed fellow centrist Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) concerns that his running would elect Trump, saying they had already discussed it and agreed to disagree.