Manchin Cuts Campaign Ad for Republican In Fight with Trump-Backed Candidate

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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) appeared in a campaign ad for West Virginia Republican Rep. David McKinley in an effort to prevent a Trump-backed candidate from gaining the congressional seat.

The 30-second ad released Friday focuses its attention on McKinley’s lack of support for the Build Back Better Act, which passed the House without any Republican votes. Manchin has withheld his support for the bill on the Senate side and deemed it “dead.”

In the ad, Manchin, says that any suggestion from McKinley’s challenger, Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) and “his out-of-state supporters” that the six-term congressman supported Build Back Better “is an outright lie.”

West Virginia lost a congressional seat after the 2020 census, and as a result, McKinely and Mooney are in a rare race in which two incumbents are squaring off. Mooney currently holds a comfortable fundraising lead over McKinley, having raised $3.7 million to his $2 million ahead of the May 10 primary.

“David McKinley has always opposed reckless spending because it doesn’t make sense for West Virginia,” Manchin tells viewers. “Alex Mooney has proven he’s all about Alex Mooney. But West Virginians know David McKinley is all about us.”

Mooney cited the ad as “further proof David McKinley is a complete and total RINO. Democrat Joe Manchin is endorsing him.”

Asked if the ad appearance indicated an endorsement, a spokesperson for Manchin told the Hill that the video “speaks for itself.”