Sen. Joe Manchin, continuing to flirt with launching a third-party presidential bid, said that if he does decide to run, he'd ask Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to be his running mate.
"Hypothetically, if I was picking my running mate, really who I would ask right now is Mitt Romney," the West Virginia Democrat, who is not running for reelection, said Thursday during a breakfast event in Cleveland, reports NBC News.
He also said he'd consider his "dear friend" former Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, as a potential vice presidential pick, but also insisted that he's "not running for anything" but "basically running to try to get people involved."
Manchin and Romney have made jokes about teaming up in the past. Last week, during Senate votes, Romney commented while walking with Manchin: "We are a team. There's no question we are."
Manchin agreed, saying, "We are. He wants to be the not-stupid party."
"We're taking a cognitive test right now, so we'll let you know," Romney added.
Manchin, also a former West Virginia governor, strongly criticized President Joe Biden during his appearance at the City Club of Cleveland breakfast, which he termed as part of his national "listening tour." He's also been mentioned as a potential candidate for the "No Labels" movement.
He said Biden has gone "so far to the left," and accused him of being "totally guilty as charged on opening up the border and making it what we have today."
Manchin also took a swipe at Biden's age, but said he has had no issues communicating with Biden, 81, or former President Donald Trump.
However, he said it's a "no-brainer" to pick Biden over Trump "if you're basing on character."
Manchin's tour also included a stop in New Hampshire last month before its presidential primary, fueling more talk that he could launch an independent or third-party bid for the White House.
In Cleveland on Thursday, he continued to dodge the question of a White House run, beyond naming his potential running mate choices but later acknowledged to reporters that he hasn't ruled out a campaign.
"Third-party run, everything is on the table," he said. "Nothing's off the table. I'm still evaluating all that. Super Tuesday [March 5] pretty much would be a deadline that tells you where you are."
Manchin is also scheduled to speak with the Detroit Economic Club on Feb. 26, the day before Michigan's Democratic presidential primary.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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