Sen. Joe Manchin Says He Won’t Seek Democratic Presidential Nomination, Gayle King Tells Him He Looks ‘Thirsty’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) announced that he will not run in the 2024 presidential race despite reports that he would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination after the president dropped out of the race on Sunday afternoon.

Manchin made this announcement during an appearance on CBS Mornings on Monday.

“I am not going to be a candidate for president,” he told the show’s co-anchor Tony Dokoupil. “I am a candidate for basically speaking for the middle of this country. There are 51% of the people who are registered to participate in an election in America that basically are in the same party I am: independent.”

Co-host Gayle King pressed the West Virginia senator, saying that some believe he was being coy about running for president to receive attention.

“I’m a little confused,” King admitted. “On [the] one hand, you say, ‘I’m pursuing the process. On the other hand, you say, ‘No, I’m not a candidate this time.'”

“You know the kids of today have this phrase where they say, ‘Senator Manchin’s looking a little thirsty, that he’s just trying to get attention,'” she pointed out. “You’ve heard that phrase. So I just want to be clear, so you are not interested in running for office?”

“I am not running for office,” Manchin declared. “I could not believe that there was not going to be a primary process or a mini-process. Other countries do it.”

He then stated that he was “not looking for” attention. 

“I don’t need that as far as in my life,” he went on to say.

On February 17, Manchin told a crowd at West Virginia University that he would not run for president as a third-party candidate.

During an interview with CNN in late April, Manchin said that all members of Congress should be “ashamed” of the 118th Congress.