Joe Manchin Says Democrats Went 'From Liberal to Progressives to DSA' and Are Too Afraid to Push Back
On Sean Hannity's podcast, the former West Virginia senator, now an independent, said he cannot understand why longtime Democrats stay quiet about the Democratic Socialists of America. He also pointed to House seats at stake in hard-blue districts.
Former Sen. Joe Manchin says the party he left is moving left and few inside it will say so, Fox News reports.
The warning. On the "Hang Out with Sean Hannity" podcast, Manchin said: "That's why I'm an independent." Of his old party, he said: "[Members of the Democratic Party] went from liberal to progressives to DSA. It just keeps going on that trend."
The silence. Manchin said he is baffled that many Democrats seem unwilling to challenge the influence of the Democratic Socialists of America. "That's beyond me," he said, suggesting some longtime Democrats may be afraid to take on the party's progressive wing.
The midterms. Manchin said that if the House flips to Democratic control, "a lot of the flipping is going to happen in kind of a purple area, not a hard blue area." The hard-blue districts, he said, are where Democrats "are going to maybe flip to DSA."
The context. Manchin left the Democratic Party after often breaking with fellow Democrats in Congress and registered as an independent in May 2024. Fox says his announcement then criticized extremism on both the left and the right and said neither party would "find common ground" or "put country before party." Fox points to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as one Democratic socialist who has won a high-profile election.
Note for readers: these are Manchin's opinions in a podcast interview with a Fox host. The Fox report does not include a response from the Democratic Party or from the DSA. Our earlier stories on the DSA oath challenge and Pelosi's comments on Mamdani are on the site.