WASHINGTON — Just days after Sen. Joe Manchin voted to remove President Donald J. Trump from office in the U.S. Senate Impeachment Trial, the senator now says he could endorse the President in his re-election campaign.
“I don’t rule anything out. I really don’t rule anything out,” Manchin expressed on Thursday, in an interview with Politico. “I’m always going to be for what’s best for my country. Everybody can change. Maybe the president will change, you know? Maybe that uniter will come out, versus the divider.”
Manchin then expressed that his impeachment vote was part of his retribution against Trump for endorsing Patrick Morrisey (R) for Senate in the 2016 General Election.
“It’s not different when he wanted to have lunch the week after I was elected. And he said: ‘I knew we couldn’t beat you.’ And I said: ‘It wasn’t for lack of trying.’ Boom, it’s over, let it go. I did. I’m asking him to do the same thing I did,” Manchin told Politico. “He tried to remove me.”
Last week, West Virginias were enraged when Manchin voted with 46 of his democratic colleagues to convict and remove Trump from office in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial. Many believe this is just an example of Manchin in “damage control,” attempting to regain the trust of his constituents after a tremendously unpopular vote. By Manchin expressing that he won’t, “rule anything out,” it creates a potentially dishonest portrayal of open consideration, while also intentionally not committing an endorsement.