Manchin on third-party presidential run: ‘Not ruling anything in, not ruling anything out’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) sidestepped questions repeatedly on whether he would consider a third-party presidential run, saying in an interview Sunday that he’s “not ruling anything in, not ruling anything out.”

“You better have Plan B. because if Plan A shows that we’re going to the far reaches of both sides, 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. I think there is, that you better have that Plan B available and ready to go,” Manchin said when pressed by Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” on whether he was evaluating a third-party run. 

A bipartisan political group, No Labels, has been increasing its efforts to find a “unity ticket” to run as a third-party option to what polls suggest will be a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump. Reports have indicated that Manchin is at the top of its list.

Manchin has not announced whether he would run for reelection in 2024. His poll numbers have recently dropped, and Gov. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) has announced his intentions to challenge Manchin for his seat. 

When Bream followed up on Sunday to ask whether that “Plan B” would include Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat said, “I’m not saying who’s it going to include or exclude.”

“I’m saying you better have Plan B ready, Shannon, because that’s what it’s going to take for this country to remain the superpower of the world to give confidence to people around the world that the reserve currency should be the U.S. dollar,” he added. “That support for freedom and democracy should be the U.S. government and the U.S. Defense Department. We can do that. You can’t do it from the extremes.”