Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said Monday he will not run for president despite speculation he may throw his hat in the ring after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, though he did express support for a “mini primary” process and did not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the position.
Kamala Harris and Joe Manchin attend a Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on June 7, 2017. ... [+]
Multiple outlets on Sunday reported Manchin, who left the Democratic party in May, was mulling a presidential bid after Biden succumbed to pressure from fellow Democrats and announced he would drop his push for reelection.
After making the announcement Sunday, Biden endorsed Harris to be the next Democratic nominee, giving her a significant leg up in what could have been an otherwise wide-open nomination process.
On “CBS Mornings” Monday, Manchin said he was “not running for office,” and he later told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” he is “not intending to run for any political office.”
Manchin earlier Monday told CNN he was not considering running as Harris' vice president. Though he said he wouldn’t be competing himself, Manchin also said he did not support that Harris is the “predetermined” choice to replace Biden and instead called for a “mini primary” process to vet other options for potential nominees.
As of now, the roughly 3,900 delegates of the Democratic National Convention that have committed to vote for Biden to be the presidential nominee are technically unspoken for, but some have already said they vote for Biden’s choice of Harris and others are expected to largely do the same.
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Harris, who confirmed Sunday she would run for president, has not announced a choice for her running mate but potential options that have been floated include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
“I’ve identified a few people, a lot of governors, a lot of people who have credentials who could do a great job as new leaders,” Manchin told CBS. “And it would help strengthen, I believe, Kalama in her position, too. But that has already been predetermined, so we’ll see what happens. I believe it’s a mistake, but it’s one that they have made.”