ANOTHER DOWN

Joe Manchin Confirms: ‘I Am Not Going to Be a Candidate for President’

For a moment there, it looked like the ex-Democrat might rejoin his former party in a bid for the top job.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin confirmed Monday that he will not run against Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination. “I am not going to be a candidate for president,” Manchin said during an appearance on CBS Mornings. The lawmaker, who left the Democratic Party in May to become an independent, had been the subject of reports suggesting that he might re-register with his former party and mount a bid to become the nominee following President Joe Biden’s bombshell departure from the presidential race Sunday. Despite confirming he won’t be entering the race, Manchin said he would like to see a competitive process to select the nominee. “I think a lot of people would like to see a mini primary,” Manchin said. “That’s the process—find out if you have the strongest candidate, whether it could be Kamala or whoever else.” He also claimed he wasn’t speaking up simply for attention but just asking why everyone else is “afraid to speak out.” “Why are they afraid to say: ‘This system is wrong?’” Manchin asked.