Former Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin has a message for the party he served for decades: When it comes to President Donald Trump’s victory, get over it.
In an interview with Katty Kay of the BBC, the former Democrat-turned-Independent senator said his former party needs to work with the president because he is the leader of the nation.
“[Trump] is the leader of our country. Why would you not work with him? Just because he’s a different party? Didn’t vote for him? That’s not a reason,” Manchin, who was able to be elected time and again as a Democrat in the deep Republican state of West Virginia, said.
“I want Donald Trump to succeed,” Manchin, who switched his party to Independent before retiring, said. “I want to help wherever I can help. I want to give them my experience of the mistakes I have made that we shouldn’t make again.”
During his time in office, Manchin was known for giving blunt criticism of his own party, a practice he has continued since retiring.
Manchin gave his opinion on the situation involving illegal immigrant MS-13 gang member Kilmar Ábrego García, 29, who was deported to his home nation of El Salvador.
The 77-year-old former Democrat said if he were a Republican strategist, he would sit back and allow the Democrats to keep fighting to bring back Garcia, who had a restraining order against him in 2021 for domestic abuse.
“The Democrats are saying, ‘what a horrible situation.’…They’re making more of a case out of this one person who’s an illegal immigrant being sent out of the country that could have been tied to a gang…if I’m a Republican strategist, I am going to keep quiet and just let you all go on,” he said.
And when it comes to his crackdown on illegal immigration, tariffs, and other actions he has taken, Manchin said the only people complaining are the people he defeated because President Trump is keeping his promises.
“He’s doing exactly what he said. People shouldn’t be all upset,” he said. “The people who are upset right now lost. This is the system.”
The Democrats, he believes, should focus on the national debt as they head into the 2026 and 2028 elections.
“We’re 36 trillion dollars in debt. There’s no way that we can handle this,” he said. “If the Democrats wanted to reposition themselves, why don’t they do it on fiscal policy? Do you ever hear anybody talking about balancing our budget, fiscal policy, living within our means?”
However, his most controversial suggestion came when he spoke about what he believes the presidency should look like, with an idea that would require a constitutional amendment.
“I believe the president should be one six-year term, Katty. A president should never have to worry about getting re-elected. All they should do is their job,” he said.
He also said that he believes members of Congress should be capped at serving for 12 years and that Supreme Court justices should have a limit of 18 years, both of which would also require amending the Constitution.
In December, before leaving the Senate, Manchin did not play nice with his assessment of former President Joe Biden.
Manchin specifically objected to the commutations of the sentences of Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks, who were convicted of murdering Marshall University student Samantha Burns two decades ago during a crime spree that also included the killing of a woman in South Carolina, the Washington Times reported.
“After speaking to Samantha Burns’ parents, I believe it is my duty to speak on their behalf and say President Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences for the two men convicted in her brutal murder is horribly misguided and insulting,” Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent who is retiring from the Senate, posted on social media.
“Particularly since Samantha’s family wrote letters to President Biden & the Department of Justice, pleading for them not to do this, but their concerns were unheard,” he added. “I can’t imagine the grief that Kandi and John Burns are reliving and dealing with during the holiday season.”
