Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) is still bitter about how his ex-party treated him, and he’s wearing that animosity on his sleeve. In an interview that aired Sunday, the soon-to-be ex-senator sat down with CNN and set the Democratic Party on fire, calling it “toxic.” Manchin also took a clear shot at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and what is left of “the squad.”
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“The D-brand has been so maligned from the standpoint of, it’s just, it’s toxic,” Manchin told CNN’s Manu Raju in an interview airing Sunday, citing the shift as the reason why he left the party.
Adding that he no longer considers himself a Democrat “in the form of what Democratic Party has turned itself into,” Manchin — who has long been a pivotal swing vote in the Senate — said the party’s brand has become about telling people what they can and can’t do, blaming progressives for the change.
“They have basically expanded upon thinking, ‘Well, we want to protect you there, but we’re going to tell you how you should live your life from that far on,’” Manchin added.
Manchin cast progressives — a small number of lawmakers within the party who he claims have an outsize influence — as being out of touch with the majority of Americans.
“This country is not going left,” he said.
Manchin left the Democratic Party in mid-2024 after far-left lunatics started stalking him for not eliminating the filibuster. As many predicted at the time, that aggression backfired, and the West Virginia senator ended up scuttling Biden’s bid to cement control of the National Labor Relations Board throughout Donald Trump’s coming presidency.
SEE: Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin Leave Joe Biden One Last Parting Gift, and Democrats Are Livid
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As to the Democratic Party being too far-left, it’s hard to argue with that assessment. When you’ve got Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) setting the tone, you’re going to end up in a political position that most Americans won’t abide. If the 2024 election told us anything, it’s that voters care far more about the economy and foreign policy than they do left-wing social engineering and class warfare. Still, the recent attacks on Elon Musk show zero lessons have been learned on that front.
When asked about Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential loss, Manchin blamed her lack of moderation.
He added: “You might say, ‘That’s too far right.’ OK. If that’s the case, then why did they go too far right when Kamala was trying to come back to the middle a little bit?”
Instead, Manchin blamed Vice President Harris’ loss on her inability to cast herself as a moderate candidate after championing progressive issues during her first presidential run in 2019.
“If you try to be somebody you’re not, it’s hard,” Manchin said. Hedeclined to endorse the vice president
ahead of the election.
That final line nails why Harris lost. Her rush to the middle, attempting to disown all her left-wing viewpoints, was never viable. When someone is on video endorsing decriminalizing illegal immigration and promoting taxpayer-funded sex change operations for federal prisoners, they can’t just flip a switch and become mid-90s Bill Clinton. Harris is the most inauthentic person to ever run for the presidency, and she was uniquely unsuited for the nomination.
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Of course, that blame falls on President Joe Biden. There’s no doubt he chose Harris for the vice presidential position because of her race and sex. He openly bragged about doing so and ended up painting himself into a corner. Once the current president dropped out of the race due to his increasing senility, Harris was the only choice. Had Democrats gone with anyone else, it would have torn the race-obsessed party apart.
Manchin will likely retire for good after leaving the Senate in January. His desire to run for governor in West Virginia appears to have been quelled, and he can forever say “I told you so” to the former colleagues who stabbed him in the back.