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As Joe Manchin prepares to leave Congress for the first time in nearly 15 years, the West Virginia senator — who left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent earlier this year — called the Democratic Party’s brand “toxic.” , further distancing itself from its former party.
“The D brand has been very maligned in terms of just being toxic,” Manchin said in an interview on CNN on Sunday, citing the change as a reason for leaving the party.
Manchin, who has long been a key swing vote in the Senate, added that he is no longer a Democrat “as the Democratic Party itself” and that the party’s brand tells people what it can do and what it can do. He said it was supposed to happen. It fails to do so and blames progressives for change.
“They’ve basically extended this idea of, ‘We want to protect you there, but from there we’re going to tell you how to live your life,'” Manchin added. Ta.
Mr. Manchin criticized progressives, a minority of members of Congress who claim to have outsized influence within the party, as out of touch with the majority of Americans.
“This country is not going to the left,” he said.
The former West Virginia governor-turned-senator said he was a lifelong Democrat because the party used to focus on family issues like “good jobs, good pay,” but Democrats are now They argued that they were too concerned about sensitive social issues. On issues such as transgender rights, he has “zero responsibility” for the federal budget during elections.
But Manchin further criticized the party for lacking common sense on gun issues, saying the party is also not taking responsibility for the national debt.
“They’re too extreme. It’s just common sense,” Manchin said. “We’re not going to ban people from buying it, but we have to take some responsibility.”
“That’s why Democrats are overreaching and trying to ban it. Republicans say, ‘Oh, let’s hope for better times.’ Let everybody get whatever they want,” Manchin added. “There’s some common sense there.”
When asked about incoming House Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar’s statement that Democrats would have won the election if they had looked more like outgoing caucus chairwoman Pramila Jayapal instead of Manchin. The senator told Raju: I go completely crazy. ”
“The American people voted,” Manchin said. “They had the opportunity to vote for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Donald Trump, nothing has been said yet. You know exactly what you’re going to get. I haven’t made any bones.”
Furthermore, he added: “Some people might say, ‘That’s too far right.’ OK. If that’s the case, why did they go too far to the right when Kamala is trying to move back a little bit to the center?”
Instead, Manchin blamed Harris’ defeat on Harris’ failure to establish herself as a moderate candidate despite championing progressive issues in her first presidential campaign in 2019. .
“It’s hard to try to be someone you’re not,” Manchin said. He refused to endorse the vice president before the election.
Manchin dodged questions about who he voted for in November, but said he likes Trump and would “get along well” with him. He added that during last weekend’s Army-Navy football game, he told the president-elect “I want to help in any way I can.”
“I want you to be successful,” Manchin reportedly told Trump. “Every red-blooded American should want the president to succeed, whether you vote for him or not, whether you belong to the same party as him or not, whether you like him or not.”
Watch the full interview between Manu Raju and Senator Manchin
Before Manchin left the party earlier this year, the senator considered jumping into the presidential race to run against Joe Biden in the Democratic primary, and discussed running again after the president wrapped up his campaign. did.
But Manchin told Raju that while he could see a “path forward” where people didn’t want a repeat of Biden vs. Trump and wanted a centrist candidate, he didn’t believe there was a chance he would get on the ballot in all 50 states. He said he is doing so.
Manchin said he had been exploring running with the centrist group No Labels and realized that “if we can’t get to all 50 states, we have no chance of winning.”
“So why would I put myself or anyone else through that and go down in the history books as a spoiler?” Manchin added. No Labels ultimately abandoned plans to form a third-party presidential unity ticket for the 2024 election.
But Manchin emphasized that there is an appetite for moderates in Congress and the White House, and emphasized the importance of centrist voters.
“The votes of centrists and moderates will determine who becomes president of the United States. And when they come here, they will not govern that way. Neither side will. They will each Go to the corner,” Manchin said. “So if we had a party that had a voice in the center and could bring back both Democrats and Republicans, OK, that would be something.”
When Mr. Raju asked if he thought the time for third-party agencies had come, Mr. Manchin said he did.
The senator added that this third party would be called the “American Party” and would be a home for moderate Democrats and Republicans. But he said he would not be its leader.
“I’ll be there cheering, too. I’ll be the best cheerleader they’ve ever had,” Manchin said.
The retiring senator will be replaced by West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who will flip the seats and give Republicans control of the chamber along with the House majority.
Asked if he would be absent from the Senate session, Manchin said, “I don’t think so.”
The senator, who famously once said that the chamber “sucks,” said that sentiment has not changed, but insisted that the House is “the worst.”
“Those poor people, I really feel for them,” Manchin said. “They can’t move. They’re in a dead heat.”
But as Mr. Manchin reflects on his political career, he looks back fondly on the past 40-plus years.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of my great state and contribute to my great country,” Manchin said.
This article has been updated.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Aaron Perish, Claire Foran and Matt Holt contributed to this report.
