Joe Manchin inches even closer to third-party presidential run as he blasts Donald Trump and Joe Biden for ‘visceral hatred’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) made one of his biggest signals that he will make a third-party presidential bid on Sunday when he claimed he wants to “mobilize the radical middle.”

Earlier this month, Manchin announced he would not seek re-election to his U.S. Senate seat amid speculation that he could run for the White House on a bipartisan ticket with the No Labels movement.

Criticizing President Joe Biden for moving too far left and former President Donald Trump for stooping to “a level where he normalized this deep-seated hatred,” the moderate Democrat said everyone is “sick and tired” of divisive politics.

‘Enough is enough! They want you to pick a side,” Manchin told John Catsimatidis on Cats Roundtable Sunday morning, claiming that each side views the other as an “enemy” rather than a “competitor.”

“Washington wants you and me to be divided, and the rest of America to be divided, because it’s a better business model for them,” the West Virginia Democrat explained. “I came to the conclusion that… I can’t change it from within.”

“I’ve decided to go around and see if I can mobilize the radical middle — the radical, moderate, sensible, reasonable, middle, modern part of this country,” he said as Manchin travels around the country to speak to voters.

Manchin says he has moderate Democratic and Republican friends who are also fed up with the current state of politics and the default two-party system in America.

“I’m an American first, I’m a West Virginian second, and I’m the most independent, centrist, moderate Democrat you’ve ever seen,” he insisted.

“Many of my friends are the most centrist, moderate, independent Republicans you’ve ever seen,” Manchin added. ‘And we’ve just had enough. We’ll see if we can get something done. To collaborate. Put the country first. Forget the parties.’

The No Labels movement has the support of groups of bipartisan lawmakers and politicians and aims to put forward a “unity ticket” in 2024, which could include a presidential and vice-presidential candidate from the opposing parties.

“Maybe we’re being radical if we think that maybe there should be a centrist, moderate, common-sense type of person in the public sector. Because we don’t get that anymore,” Manchin said of the idea of ​​the parties working together.

Manchin’s comments come as a new NBC News poll released Sunday shows Biden losing to Trump by two points in 2024 — for the first time in this series of polls.

But Manchin — and many other Americans — don’t seem to think Biden or Trump are the best options. But it’s not clear who else would emerge as the frontrunner if neither of the two frontrunners were to emerge within the opposing presidential primaries.

Manchin blasted Trump for pushing “deep-seated hatred” and said Biden has “pulled to the far left so far”

“Donald Trump has taken it to a level where he has normalized this deep-seated hatred. He wants to be re-elected to use the office and weaponize it for revenge. He believes that the only fair election is actually the one he won (in 2016). He believes that the rule of law is only for you and me, and not for him. That is not who we are as a country,” Manchin said of the former president.

He continued about the current president: “And Joe Biden has moved to the far left so far – that makes no sense at all. He is not the person we thought would unite the country. We’re in a huge mess here.’

“We need to bring people together,” Manchin said. “We are the United States, not the divided (states).”