Manchin rules out presidential run but calls for contested primary
By
Ross O'Keefe
July 22, 2024 7:52 am
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Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) said he is not running for president soon after reports floated that he was considering reregistering as a Democrat to contest Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination.
“I’m not intending to run for any political office,” Manchin said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “I made that very clear, I’m retiring.”
Manchin did call for a contested Democratic primary, however, one of the few Democrats to maintain that the party needs to have a more in-depth selection process and not nominate Harris right away. Manchin said he likes to be involved and that he speaks for the “majority of Americans who are in the middle like me.”
He said he thinks voters want to see a primary happen.
“I was hoping with the decision that President Biden that there would be a primary…that we could find out the cream of the crop of the new generation,” he said.
The senator then listed out Govs. Roy Cooper (D-NC), Andy Beshear (D-KY), JB Pritzker (D-IL), Josh Shapiro (D-PA), and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) as candidates.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3093421/manchin-rules-out-presidential-run-calls-contested-primary/