Manchin keeps himself in spotlight with hint about decision deadline on challenging Biden

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has thrown himself into the spotlight again, hinting at a late third-party presidential bid after Super Tuesday on March 5. 

“Super Tuesday pretty much confirms whatever is going to happen, what we believe will happen, and we’ll see where we go from there,” Manchin told reporters on the day of the New Hampshire primary. “But people are looking for options, and we’re going to be looking at that, too. Whether it’s me or whoever it may be, I think there’s going to be options available if it goes down the way it’s going down.”

The West Virginia senator turned heads when he visited Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 12 for the Politics and Eggs event reserved for current and potential candidates. There, he insisted he was not campaigning but promoting his new political organization, America Together, to “connect and empower centrist voices around the country,” according to a description of the event.

Manchin also teased his potential run on Fox and Friends last week, saying that if former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are the likely nominees after Super Tuesday, it will “create decisions to be made.”

When asked by an attendee at the event about how he would respond if a voter wrote in Manchin instead of Biden on the New Hampshire primary ballot, the senator said, “I cannot prevent whatever you want to do.”

In response to whether he would consider running as a presidential candidate with No Labels, the third-party group, Manchin said he would run to win and not to be a spoiler.

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“Well, I’m not gonna be a spoiler,” he said. “If there’s a pathway forward, I’ve always been involved and competitive. If I’m going to get involved, I would definitely want to win, and I’m gonna fight to win. I will not go in there trying to harm or help somebody else. I want to make sure that we create a different option, bringing people together.”

Last year, Manchin announced he was not planning to run for reelection for the U.S. Senate seat in West Virginia, juicing speculation that he might be planning a 2024 presidential bid.

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