Manchin promises not to be 2024 election ‘spoiler’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Sunday pledged not to be a “spoiler” in the 2024 presidential election but suggested he was still considering a last-minute run for the White House.

“Let me just say I have never been a spoiler, nor will I ever be a spoiler on any election,” Manchin said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” with Shannon Bream.

“If I’m involved, I’m involved to win. But to be a spoiler for the sake of throwing the election one way or the other, I would never do,” he added.

Manchin did not rule out the potential of launching a last-minute campaign for president, but he said he wanted to gauge where the parties are by Super Tuesday.

“For any third-party attempt, it would define itself by, let’s say, Super Tuesday. If there’s going to be any movement whatsoever,” he said, later adding, “So we’ll just see where we are at that point in time. Right now, both parties seem to have a hard time with the candidates.”

“I think you start looking after Super Tuesday to find out what the lay of the land is going to be. A lot can change in the next two months. So let’s wait and see,” he said.

Manchin and his daughter recently launched Americans Together, and in New Hampshire, he began his tour to gauge the national appetite for a middle-of-the-road perspective.

As a conservative Democrat, Manchin has frequently bucked his party and has criticized both major parties as too extreme.