Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said Sunday on CNN's “Inside Politics” that he is no longer a Democrat because the party's brand has become “toxic.”
Host Manu Raju asked, “Do you still consider yourself a Democrat?”
Manchin said: “I'm not a Democrat. In what way? What have the Democrats turned into a national brand? Absolutely not. And they know it. They're both good people. is.”
He continued, “The brand has gotten so bad and D Brand has been so maligned from that standpoint. It's just toxic, and D Brand is basically this. You know, I tell them, I said, first of all, as an American, as a senator, I'm going to take my constitutional oath, the Constitution, very, very, very seriously.”
Manchin added, “I'm going to help every human being pursue happiness in life and pursue happiness. I don't care who they are. I don't care what color they are. I have no interest in liking it, and they do it. That's who you are. And I'm going to make sure you have that opportunity and the right to live your life. , whether it is extreme or Even though you may be in the minority, don't make your life that way, don't make me believe that that's the norm, don't make me and my life that way that my family believes, or that my No, I protect you, don't try to mainstream that. And the Democratic Party, the Washington Democratic Party, has tried to mainstream extreme ideas. .”
