Manchin’s Appearance at New Hampshire Event Sparks Speculation about Presidential Run in 2024

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who is not seeking reelection in 2024, has added to rampant speculation of making a run for the presidency with a scheduled appearance next month at a New Hampshire event usually reserved for major party presidential candidates.

Manchin, 76, will speak at a function called “Politics & Eggs” on Jan. 12 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The event is sponsored by the New England Council and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

Manchin is there to tout his new organization Americans Together, which states on its website that it is a “movement to mobilize the middle,” moderate Americans who “stand against extremism in politics. It has taken over our political system and taken away our voice.” It is the first stop of a nationwide listening tour.

The “Politics & Eggs” series started in 1995 to provide New Hampshire and New England business leaders with a chance to meet with major party presidential candidates. The series played host earlier this year to three Republican candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. In 2015, Donald Trump spoke at the series amid his presidential campaign.

But the series has expanded to include speakers other than candidates who discuss crucial issues facing the nation.

Even before announcing last month he would not be seeking a third full term as the lone Democrat senator in heavily Republican West Virginia, Manchin has been coy about whether he would run for president as an independent or as a member of the No Labels unity party.

Democrats are worried a run by Manchin, coupled with independent campaigns by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, will syphon votes from President Joe Biden and cost him a second term.

At The Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit on Dec. 12, Manchin was pressed about a presidential run but wouldn’t speculate on his political future.

“What I can tell you is: There might be a movement, there might not,” he said. “That depends. I really don’t know. I would not be a spoiler. I’ve never been a spoiler in anything. I get into something, I get in to win.

“The difference about winning is this: The political process has gotten to the point of visceral hatred that I’ve got to create you as an enemy and hate you in order to compete against you. I’ve never done business that way.”