West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin this week doubled down on his calls for a strong third-party movement, arguing there is no reason for the two parties to work together.
“Here in Washington, we are dealing with a duopoly,” Manchin said at a briefing. Interview with Axios. “This is a business model. There’s a Republican business model and a Democratic business model. And their whole business model is based on division. If you want me to pick a side, OK, you can pick a side. The more you can make the other side your enemy, the more active you will be, the more money you will make, the more activist you will be. ”
Moderate Democrats argued that there was no reason for the two parties to work together because that model didn’t fit.
“If you look at all the elections, there are billions more elections to come. They don’t want that to change. They don’t want us to sit down and fix things because it doesn’t affect their business model.” And there’s no reason to cooperate.’ So I really think we need a third-party movement to bring people back,” said Manchin, who recently announced his retirement.
Manchin told Axios that Washington’s “business model” prevents Republicans and Democrats from supporting third parties. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Manchin says he can “absolutely” consider himself president, thinks Biden’s health or Trump conviction could pave the way
“And 55 to 60 percent of us live on the center left or center right. You want the Great Old Party to be great again. You want the Democratic Party to be responsible and caring. “We want it to be. That’s why we want it to be. “We see it happening and they don’t. They feel homeless and powerless,” he continued.
Manchin has announced that he will not run for president in 2024, but if he were to run as a third-party candidate, he would choose either Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney or former Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. He also said he was deaf, Fox News Digital previously reported.
He told Axios he would never vote for Donald Trump, but also argued that President Biden has gone “too far to the left.”
“I love my country, so I can’t support or vote for Donald Trump. I know him. We got along well. We tried to do that. It was okay until I voted to impeach him twice, then he got furious. We had a good relationship, but I don’t know what the problem was. Hmm,” Manchin said, and the audience gathered for the Axios interview laughed. “But, you know, I thought it was wrong for Democrats to impeach him.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 8: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) heads to vote in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on June 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Joe Manchin flirts with third-party ticket, suggests Mitt Romney and Rob Portman as potential running mates
“I thought they should censure him, because I knew this was a political trial. We didn’t have the votes for it. And it was basically , it’s about his character, who he is. Give him more dignity and energy. And it did. So I said, if you blame him. , we might be able to slow him down a bit and bring him back to a more rational state [sic],” he continued.
Manchin argued that both Trump and Biden are abusing their positions and that the border bill is a disappointment to Manchin.
President Biden and former President Donald Trump. (Fox News)
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“You know, the thing that disappointed me more than anything was the border security bill,” he said, criticizing Republicans for not supporting the bill.
