On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said that President Joe Biden is not the person who has the knowledge, function, and ability to unite the country and has been “pushed” too far left and he hopes Biden can go back to being who he was before.
Host Kaitlan Collins asked, “You also said that, in a president, you’re looking for someone…who has the knowledge, has the function, and has the ability to…bring this country together. Is Joe Biden that candidate?”
Manchin responded, “Well, that’s the Joe Biden I used to know. I’ve — and I’ve had this conversation with him and with his people that he’s gone too far to the left, they’ve pushed him and pulled him and whatever. But that’s not where America is. That’s not where our country is. So, I’m hoping the Joe Biden that we saw in 2020 will be the Joe Biden we see in 2024, if that can be done.”
Collins then asked Manchin if he will endorse Biden.
Manchin answered, “I’m not endorsing anybody right now. We’re going to see what all happens. We’ve still got plenty of time here. I’m going to do everything I can to help move them back to the middle and show them where the strength of this country lies, where the voting bloc of the country lies.”
Collins then asked what people should read from Manchin not endorsing Biden. Manchin responded, “No, no. I’m just — I’m trying to do everything I can to make sure that we have a pathway forward where the center of this country is going to be represented, and that’s the center-left and center-right. That’s where the decisions — that’s where people live their lives. That’s the type of government they want. They don’t want the extremes, and what we’re seeing is extremes. Donald Trump is an extremist. And with that, there [are] people that are going in that direction. I still believe there [are] enough good Republicans and Democrats that want this centrist type of approach to governing.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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