On Wednesday Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) dismissed a report published in Mother Jones claiming that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party.
According to the report Manchin told associates he is actively considering leaving the party and declaring himself to be an ‘American independent’ if President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats didn’t agree to spending cuts in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.
According to Mother Jones reporter David Corn, Manchin is considering a two-step plan for leaving the party.
“First, he would send a letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, removing himself from the Democratic leadership of the Senate,” Corn wrote. “He would then wait and see if that move had any impact on the negotiations. After about a week, he said, he would change his voter registration from Democrat to independent.”
Asked about the report, Manchin told reporters, “I have no control of rumors, guys. No control of rumors,” adding, “this is bullshit.”
This is not the first time the centrist Democrat from West Virginia had to deny rumors about switching parties.
“I’ve never considered it from that standpoint because I know I can change more from where I’m at,” Manchin told Vox in April when asked about leaving the Democratic Party.
“If switching a party or whether you have a ‘D’ by your name or an ‘R’ by your name changes who you are as a person, then you’re in the wrong profession and it’s all about you and not about the oath you take to the office, the oath to the Constitution, to protect and defend,” Manchin told Fox News in July.
