Joe Manchin says Americans should be 'concerned' about Donald Trump's support heading into 2024
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in an interview Sunday that Americans should be concerned about the support former President Donald Trump has garnered ahead of 2024.
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper how worried Democrats should be about President Joe Biden’s reelection bid considering polls have shown him trailing Trump in critical states such as Michigan and Georgia, Manchin said, “I think we all should be concerned about the support that Donald Trump has.”
“And basically, he’s told us who he is. And when a person tells you who they are, you ought to believe them,” Manchin said.
“It’s not democracy as we know it. It’s not how the country has been able to survive through this experiment of ours for over 230-plus years,” he added. “And here we are today now being threatened. Can democracy survive? We’ve gone through some tough times.”
Manchin’s comments come as Trump has faced backlash after he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this month he would be a “dictator” on day one of his potential second administration.
At a rally on Sunday, he also told New Hampshire voters immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America, which also drew immediate criticism.
“We’ve been through difficult times, and we can make it as long as we understand the freedoms (of) democracy that we have, the opportunities that we have and the disparity that people are having right now,” Manchin said.
The centrist West Virginia lawmakers has long said he would consider mounting a 2024 presidential campaign. He has also flirted with the idea of running as a third-party candidate with No Labels, a bipartisan political organization that has sought to get on presidential ballots in all 50 states.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Manchin says Americans should be 'concerned' about Trump's traction