Manchin declines to endorse Biden reelection

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday sidestepped the question of whether he’d endorse President Biden if he ran for reelection in 2024.

“If Joe Biden runs again and he is the Democratic nominee, depending on who the Republican nominee is, we will just have to wait and see,” Manchin told NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo in an interview released Thursday on “The Chris Cuomo Project.”

The centrist senator has leveraged his vote in a 50-50 Senate to set the terms of the Democratic agenda, particularly with the Build Back Better Act, which he scuttled over fears of further inflation.

This week, however, Manchin struck an unexpected agreement with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), producing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a scaled-down version of the economic package.

The $670 billion reconciliation bill would invest in domestic energy, lower prescription drug costs, combat climate change and reduce the deficit by closing tax loopholes on wealthy individuals and corporations. 

Manchin’s deal has been lauded by President Biden and by former President Obama, but the senator still wasn’t ready to back his party’s sitting leader.

“I am not predicting anything or how I would support or not support, or get involved or not. But I can tell you this: Whoever the elected president is — Democrat, Republican or independent — every one of us should pray that they succeed,” Manchin said Thursday.