Joe Manchin REFUSES to endorse Biden in 2024 and opens the door for his own run for President

Sen. Joe Manchin refuses to say if or when he will back President Biden in 2024 as he continues to fuel rumors he might be considering a bid for the presidency himself. 

‘There’s plenty of time for the elections,’ the West Virginia Democrat demurred when asked about endorsing Biden. 

‘This is the problem with America right now, we start an election every time there’s a cycle coming up,’ he griped on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. 

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Sen. Joe Manchin refused to say he would back President Biden in 2024 at the end of the year as he continued to fuel rumors he might be considering a bid for the presidency himself.

Based on historical precedent, incumbents get wide backing from their party. But Manchin said he would wait until he sees how the primary shakes out to commit to backing a candidate.  

‘The bottom line is let’s see who’s involved. Let’s see who all the players are.’ 

Biden, 80, has not yet formally launched a re-election bid but continues to say he will do so.   

‘I’m not going to make a decision until the end of the year on what I’m going to do for my political future,’ Manchin continued, refusing to rule out either another bid for the Senate or a run for the top of the ticket. ‘I got too much work to do now.’

The key moderate senator cast further doubt on Biden winning his favor in the next election. ‘We’ve got runaway debt, inflation that’s killing people, insecure energy, a border that’s out of control; you’re telling me we’re in the same ballgame in the same ballpark? I don’t think so.’

Manchin was asked about comments he made last month where he said he is not running for president ‘right now.’ 

‘You’ve said you’re not running for president. Is that an open question, though?’ CBS’ Margaret Brennan asked.  

‘I didn’t say that. I didn’t say anything about that. The bottom line is I will make my political decision in December. I’m not taking anything off the table, and I’m not putting anything on the table,’ the senator replied.  

‘I’m not running for president of the United States. ‘I can assure you of that as we sit here today,’ Manchin, who is up for reelection next year, told MetroNews in a radio broadcast on Feb. 22.  

Biden, 80, has not yet formally launched a re-election bid but continues to say he will do so

Pressed further whether he was ruling out a bid for the presidency, Manchin said: ‘I don’t know. I think right now, you don’t know who the Democrat nominee or the Republican nominee is going to be.’ 

The only position Manchin has ruled out running for is governor, a position he held from 2005-2010. 

GOP Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia has already launched a bid to take Manchin’s seat, and the state’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice and attorney general Patrick Morrisey are believed to be considering bids. 

Meanwhile, another moderate Democrat, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, announced he would run for re-election late last month. Arizona’s Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has not yet announced her plans either.  

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he believes ‘we can get a lot of good bipartisan stuff done in these two years’ and that Democrats ‘are filled with unity, optimism — and optimism about 2024.’

Even so, Schumer’s Democratic Senate has been trapped in legislative amber this year as the new Republican House has little appetite for compromise. In addition, a string of Senate Democrats – including John Fetterman, Dianne Feinstein, and Bob Casey – have been absent due to health issues. 

‘If the last two years focused on getting our agenda passed into law… the next two years will be about implementing that agenda,’ said the senior Senator from New York.