Manchin says he couldn’t ‘stomach’ Democratic Party ‘socialist trend’

Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) says he couldn’t “stomach” what he calls “the socialist trend that’s going on” in the Democratic Party, explaining why he left the party last year to become an independent shortly before retiring from the Senate.

Manchin made his comments during a Fox News interview when asked to comment on the large crowds that prominent liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have attracted during a nationwide tour and the rise of New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“It’s not the Democratic Party that I knew or that I was a part of for many, many years,” Manchin said.

“This socialist trend that’s going on is something that I couldn’t stomach anymore, and it’s why I left. And if the national Democratic Party doesn’t get back to more of a center or center left, there won’t be a party they’re going to recognize at all,” he warned.

Manchin suggested Democratic leaders pull their party to the center and leave their most progressive members, such as Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani, to form a new progressive party.

“The far left, if that’s where it’s going, then let them have their own party. That’s another party in itself. It’s not the Democratic Party that I knew and not the one I think the American people will accept,” he said.

Manchin made his comments amid continuing turmoil within the Democratic Party over why it fared so badly in the 2024 election and its future direction.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll of 2,044 registered voters nationwide released last week found that only 4 in 10 respondents approve of the job the Democratic Party is doing and only 29 percent of independents approve of Democrats.

The same poll showed the Republican Party scoring a 48 percent approval rating and 38 percent of independents voicing a favorable opinion of the GOP.

The past several months have seen politicians who are farther left on the political spectrum gain traction within Democratic politics.

Mamdani, who previously was a little-known 33-year-old state Assembly member from Queens, scored a huge upset victory in the New York Democratic mayoral primary by defeating former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani came from behind in the polls to win the race after campaigning on proposals to freeze rents across New York City and establish government-run grocery stores.

Another young progressive leader notched a victory over the weekend when state Sen. Omar Fateh, a self-described democratic socialist, earned the Minneapolis DFL’s endorsement for the Minneapolis mayoral race.