After months of teasing about such a move, retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has decided that he is not running for president, as NBC News reported on Friday morning. Not only had Manchin very much been considering such a move, but his announcement comes a day after he shared during a listening tour that he'd consider retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and former Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) as running mates if he ran under the No Label party ticket.
Manchin himself made his intentions quite clear on Friday. "I will not be seeking a third-party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run," he said during a speech.
The Washington Post also quoted Manchin as saying "I just don't think it's the right time," as he claimed "democracy is at stake right now," using a narrative President Joe Biden and Democrats have been relying on for the 2024 campaign. Manchin himself has been increasingly warning about democracy for months too.
New: Sen. Joe Manchin said during his speech that “I will not be seeking a third party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run.”
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 16, 2024
This February 16 decision comes weeks before the timeline Manchin previously announced, which was to be around the March 5 Super Tuesday contests.
Manchin, who would have faced an uphill reelection battle for his Senate seat this year, announced last November that he would not be seeking reelection. That seat is thus even more certain to be a Republican pickup for 2024, with Gov. Jim Justice and Rep. Alex Mooney both vying for the Republican nomination.
"The centrist senator is expected to discuss the importance of independent voices and leave the door open to departing the Democratic Party during a speech here," the NBC News report also noted shortly before the speech. Even when it was still possible that Manchin would run for reelection, there was also chatter last year that he would no longer be a Democrat, but rather become an Independent.
Not only has Manchin been considered something of a moderate or even conservative Democrat, but he's also been at odds with his party, especially in recent years. And, he's talked about the need to come together in the middle as he's criticized the extremes of both parties.
Manchin had recently promised he would not be a "spoiler" in the presidential race, though polls that did include him showed him with single-digit support if he was in the race. A Cygnal poll from last December also indicated that he could hurt Biden. Manchin at least looks to be keeping that promise, then.