Manchin Sidesteps Questions About Third-Party Presidential Run

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), a moderate member of the Democratic party, has been evading questions about the possibility of running as a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

“I’m not ruling anything in, not ruling anything out,” said Manchin in an interview on Sunday.

Regardless of his own intentions on running, he does believe that America needs to have a “Plan B” in the event that the Democratic and Republican parties nominate their extremist candidates.

“If Plan A shows that we’re going to the far left and the far right, and that people don’t want to go to the far left and the far right, they want to be governed from the middle, you better have that Plan B available and ready to go,” Manchin explained.

Manchin is being sought after by the bipartisan political group No Labels, which has been trying to find a “unity ticket” to run as a third-party option in the likely event that the 2024 race will include President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Manchin is reportedly their first choice, although his poll numbers have recently dropped.

Although Manchin does not know if his “Plan B” will include himself, he does say that it is “what it’s going to take for this country to remain the superpower of the world.”

“That support for freedom and democracy should be the U.S. government and the U.S. Defense Department,” said Manchin. “We can do that. You can’t do it from the extremes.”

Some Democrats have raised concerns that a third-party candidate would funnel votes from Biden and give Trump the upper hand. However, the co-founder of No Labels, Nancy Jacobson, shares Manchin’s “Plan B” view.

“A No Labels ticket would be an insurance policy in the event that both major parties put forth presidential candidates the vast majority of Americans don’t support,” said Jacobson.