Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia told local network MetroNews on Wednesday that he would not run for president in 2024 as he considers his political future.
"I'm not running for President of the United States. I can assure you of that as we sit here today," Manchin said while sitting down with radio broadcaster Hoppy Kercheval at the State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia.
However, the senator later hinted that a future run was possible when pressed by Kercheval, emphasizing that he was not currently seeking the Oval Office but could in the future.
"My goal is to bring the country together," Manchin stated. 'Two years from now, or a year-and-a-half from now, let's see where it ends up – I don't know. So, you keep every option you can open if you can be more effective."
Manchin was also quiet on whether he would seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2024 as Gov. Jim Justice and Congressman Alexander Mooney gear up to face each other in the Republican primary.
Mooney announced his intention to run for the seat in November, several months after winning a contentious primary against former Rep. David McKinley with the help of former President Donald Trump's endorsement.
Justice, meanwhile, has hinted at entering the race but is expected to decide by April. Last month, the governor informed WTRF 7News that he was "very seriously considering it. In fact, I'm probably leaning that way."
"I'm not one to tease people and mess around with it. I just don't do that. At the end of the day, once I really know what I'm going to do, we'll make the announcement," Justice assured.
Manchin beat the state's Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in 2018 by around three percentage points, 49.6% to 46.3%, according to Ballotpedia.
Vox noted that the Democrat's victory defied national polarization trends, with West Virginia an increasingly red state. In 2020, Trump won every county in the state and secured 68.62% of the vote to President Joe Biden's 29.69%.
But the curiosity over Manchin's presidential ambitions comes amid concerns over Biden's ability to run for re-election in 2024, with some Democratic strategists noting his unpopularity and age concerns.
"The field would be really large and really unruly and really divisive around racial and gender lines," Democratic strategist Howard Wolfson told Politico. "After Biden, the deluge."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.