Sen. Manchin Coy on Switching Parties if Dems Lose Georgia: ‘I’m Comfortable With My Republican Friends’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) insisted Wednesday he wouldn’t switch parties in the event Democrats win runoff elections for the Senate in Georgia — but coyly said, “I’m comfortable with my Republican friends.”

“With the election coming up, there are some very senior members of the Republican Party who have been whispering to big Republican donors, ‘ It’s OK if Democrats sweep Georgia. After the election we’re going to convince Joe Manchin to switch parties.’ Any truth to that? ” MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle asked in a morning interview with Manchin.

“That is breaking news,” Manchin replied, chuckling. “I’ve never heard that before! No, there’s not. Not at all. These are my friends. I’m comfortable with my Republican friends. We go out, have dinner together. We talk. We have a good rapport. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. We can have differences and understand where we’re coming from. If you don’t know where your colleague is coming from, how do you find the middle? How do you find the compromise? How do you find the breaking point? That’s what I’ve been able to do.”

Manchin, who has represented West Virginia in the Senate since 2010, won reelection in 2018 by just 3 percent of the vote, largely by highlighting his willingness to work with Republicans including President Donald Trump, who won the state by an overwhelming 40 points in 2016 and 38 points in 2020.

If Manchin did switch parties, he wouldn’t be the first in his state to do so. Billionaire West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a former Republican who won election as a Democrat in 2016, announced that he was switching back to his old party in 2017.

“I am the most centrist voting member out of 535 members of Congress,” Manchin added. “I’m right in the middle. Fifty percent. If it makes sense, I vote for it, Stephanie. If I can’t go home to my beautiful home of West Virginia and explain it, it doesn’t make sense, I can’t sell it, I’m not voting for it.”

Watch above via MSNBC.