To learn more about West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, watch CNN’s “Inside Politics with Manu Raju” at 8 a.m. ET and 11 a.m. ET.
Washington
CNN
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As Joe Manchin prepares to leave Congress after nearly 15 years, the West Virginia senator – who left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent earlier this year — further distances himself from his former party, calling the Democratic brand “toxic.”
“The D brand has been so maligned from the point of view of, it’s just, it’s toxic,” Manchin told CNN’s Manu Raju in an interview broadcast Sunday, citing that change as the reason he left the party.
Adding that he no longer considers himself a Democrat “in the form of what the Democratic Party has become,” Manchin — who has long been a swing vote in the Senate — said the party’s brand now is about telling people what they can and cannot do, blaming progressives for the change.
“They basically grew up thinking, ‘Well, we want to protect you there, but we’re going to tell you how you should live your life from there,'” Manchin added.
Manchin portrays progressives — a small number of lawmakers within the party who he says have outsized influence — as out of touch with the majority of Americans.
“This country is not moving to the left,” he said.
The former West Virginia governor-turned-senator said he was a lifelong Democrat because the party focused on kitchen-issue issues like “good job, good pay” but claimed Democrats were now too preoccupied with sensitive social issues. like transgender rights, while taking “no responsibility” for the federal budget during the election.
But Manchin said Republicans weren’t taking responsibility for the national debt either, further criticizing them for lacking common sense on the gun issue.
“They’re too extreme, it’s just common sense,” Manchin said. “I’m not going to forbid you from buying it, but you’re going to have to show some responsibility.”
“So the Democrats are going too far and want to ban it. The Republican says, “Oh, let the good times roll.” Let anyone have anything they want,” Manchin added. “Just some common sense stuff there.”
Asked about new House Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar’s remarks that Democrats would have won the election if the party looked more like incumbent Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal and less like Manchin, the senator told Raju: “For someone to say that, they must be completely crazy.
“The American people have voted,” Manchin said. “They had the opportunity to, you know, vote with Kamala Harris and with Donald Trump. Donald Trump, there’s not much that hasn’t been said. You know exactly what you’re getting. He made no secret of it.
He added: “You might say, ‘That’s too right-wing.’ ALL RIGHT. If that’s the case, why did they go too far when Kamala was trying to come back to the middle a bit?
Instead, Manchin blamed Vice President Harris’ loss on his inability to run as a moderate candidate after defend progressive issues during his first presidential campaign in 2019.
“If you’re trying to be someone you’re not, it’s hard,” Manchin said. He refused to endorse the vice president before the elections.
While he dodged questions about who he voted for in November, Manchin said he liked Trump and “got along great” with him. He added that during the Army-Navy football game last weekend, he told the president-elect, “I want to help in any way I can.”
“I want you to succeed,” Manchin told Trump. “All red-blooded Americans should want their president to succeed, whether you vote for him or not, whether he is of the same party or not, whether you like him or not.”
Before Manchin left the party earlier this year, the senator considered enter the presidential race challenge Joe Biden in the Democratic primary and debated his candidacy again after the president’s campaign ended.
But Manchin told Raju that while he saw an “avoid” in the fact that people didn’t want a repeat of Biden versus Trump and were instead looking for a centrist candidate, he didn’t believe he had a chance of getting on the ballot voting in all 50 states.
Sharing that he tried to explore a race with the centrist group No Labels, Manchin said he realized “I have no chance of winning if I can’t compete in all 50 states.”
“So why should I subject myself to this, or anyone else, and go down in the history books as a spoiler?” Manchin added. No label finally abandoned his plans form a third party for presidential unity for the 2024 elections.
But Manchin stressed that there is an appetite for moderates in Congress and the White House, emphasizing the importance of centrist voters.
“The centrist-moderate vote decides who will be the president of the United States. And when they get here, they don’t govern that way. Neither side does this. They go to their respective corners,” Manchin said. “So if the center had a voice and had a party that could bring back both — the Democratic Party and the Republican Party — OK, that would be something.”
When Raju asked him if he thought it was time to use a third party, Manchin said he did.
The senator added that the third party would be called the “American Party” and would serve as a space for Democrats and moderate Republicans. But he shared that he would not be the leader.
“I’ll be there putting down roots. I’ll be the best cheerleader they’ve ever had,” Manchin said.
The outgoing senator will be replaced by West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice, a flipped seat that will give Republicans control of the chamber, as well as a Republican majority in the House.
Asked if he would miss the Senate, Manchin said, “I don’t think so.”
The senator, who once said the House “sucked,” said the sentiment persisted, but maintained the House “was worse.”
“Those poor guys. I feel so sorry for them there,” Manchin said. “They can’t move. They are at an impasse.
But as he reflects on his political career, Manchin looks back fondly on the past 40 years.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of my great state and to be able to contribute to my great country,” Manchin said.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Aaron Pellish, Clare Foran and Matt Holt contributed to this report.