Manchin claims both parties ‘villainize’ each other amid speculation about No Labels bid

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) accused both parties of villainizing each other Sunday, as the moderate Democrat continues to fuel speculation about a potential third-party White House bid with the bipartisan group No Labels.

“If you’re a Democrat, they expect you to villainize every Republican. And if you’re a Republican, you should villainize the Democrats,” Manchin told radio talk show host John Catsimatidis on WABC-AM’s “The Cats Roundtable.”  

“That’s not the way our founding fathers intended for this democracy to work,” he added. “It was intended for us to work together.”

Manchin commended the efforts by No Labels, which has been pushing a potential “unity ticket” as a third option in the 2024 presidential race, to present Americans with additional choices.

“All they’re asking for is, ‘Do the citizens of the United States want some other options?’” he said. 

The West Virginia senator, who has so far refused to rule out a third-party bid, stoked fears among fellow Democrats last month when he headlined a No Labels event with former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R).

Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the founding chairman of No Labels, similarly lamented in an interview with Catsimatidis on Sunday that there is currently “too much hatred” in Washington.

“There’s always been differences of opinion,” Lieberman said. “But today, you just don’t have a difference of opinion and a debate on an issue on the floor in Congress. You treat the other person as if they were the member of an enemy nation.”

He added that his organization isn’t typically involved in presidential races but suggested that they may “never really stop the partisanship and gridlock” without a president who’s committed to bipartisanship

“What motivates us is not that we want to run a ticket,” Lieberman said. “But we hope that maybe the strength that we’re showing will be a message to the two parties to try to come back toward the center and, not to change what they think is right, but to begin to work together for the good of the country.”