Sen. Joe Manchin says Donald Trump would destroy US democracy if he wins a second term as president
Associated PressFollow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, days removed from announcing he won’t seek reelection, said Wednesday that if the nation’s voters give former President Donald Trump another term in the White House, “he will destroy democracy in America.” Manchin, whose home state voters overwhelmingly backed Trump in the last two presidential elections, made the comment on a press call with West Virginia-based reporters amid speculation that Manchin himself might be weighing a third-party run for president. “And that’s wrong.” But Manchin reserved his harshest comments for Trump, who won every one of West Virginia’s 55 counties in both 2016 and 2020, making it one of the former president’s most loyal states. “I can’t figure out why you all won’t use it to do something good for our country and our states we represent.” Manchin is the last in a line of powerful West Virginia Democrats who advocated for coal interests in Washington, something that has become untenable as the progressive party has embraced clean energy and the transition away from fossil fuels. He said when he first came to the Senate, he was asked, “What happened to the West Virginia Democrat?” “I said, ‘They want to know what happened to the Washington Democrat,’’' Manchin said.