"The View" host Ana Navarro frets Joe Manchin could help Donald Trump win re-election
"The View" co-host Ana Navarro speculated with her fellow hosts about Sen. Joe Manchin's political ambitions and their consequences for the 2024 election.
The hosts of "The View" on ABC debated whether Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., could potentially run as a third-party candidate for the 2024 presidential election and help President Trump get re-elected.
Manchin announced on Thursday he would not seek re-election to the Senate. "I’ve made one of the toughest decisions in my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate. But what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle, and bring Americans together. We need to take back America and not let this divisive hatred further pull us apart."
Multiple co-hosts of "The View" fretted about him doing so, with some speculating he would join the No Labels movement.
Co-host Joy Behar noted that Manchin "has a lot of people wondering if power in D.C. will shift for the right, because yesterday he announced he will end his run as the Senate’s worst Democrat," adding that he was "right up there with Kyrsten Sinema."
Ana Navarro expressed her concern that Manchin potentially running third-party would help former President Trump reclaim the White House. (ABC)
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"So we're gonna lose the Senate because of this?" Behar asked.
"Very likely," co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin replied, before later noting it "seemed like Joe Manchin was hinting at potentially a third-party bid. People have wondered if he'd jump into the No Labels kinda discussion. I’ve been largely critical of No Labels because my fear is that, A, it would end up boosting Trump, getting more supporters to him, but also I think for a third party, which we need in this country to come about, it’s going to take years not one cycle."
She did argue, however, that she is "warming" to certain aspects of the idea in theory and likes many of the candidates associated with the movement to the point she is "willing to hear what they have to say, but I worry that it could end up boosting the more dangerous candidate."
Co-host Sunny Hostin said she wasn't sure if a third party candidate "has ever been successful other than in drawing votes away" from either of the larger parties as others recalled names like Ralph Nader and Jill Stein. She then argued, "I think it’s a bad idea, I think it's a much better idea to have a healthier Republican Party that is not led by Donald Trump. I think it's time for Republicans that are moderate and that are sophisticated to step up and denounce Trump and I think that would solve the problem much more so than this No Label Party."
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks at a press conference outside his office on Capitol Hill on October 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Co-host Ana Navarro argued that Joe Manchin has "been a problem child for Democrats for the last few years, he and Kyrsten Sinema, but he's been part of the family and he's kept them in the majority, so he's played a very important role."
However, she contested that his potential run would be a disaster for Democrats.
She added that while she initially liked the No Labels movement, "This thing to me is a desperate cry for relevance and attention by a bunch of elitist former ‘something’ who are thirsty to be part of the conversation." She then proposed that she would ask Manchin, "Are you willing to be responsible for putting Donald Trump back in the White House? The man who’s been a threat to democracy, a threat to American values, who led an insurrection? Are you willing to be part of something that may end up putting that man who should be nowhere near the Oval Office, he should be in a jail cell."
Sara Haines argued that even if she likes the No Labels Party in theory and as a future prospect with potential, "I don't think that it's right for this election because of the risk of running against Donald Trump."
Griffin claimed that she had spoken to "folks involved with No Labels who have said that if they see polling well into this that shows it's just going to be a boon for Trump, they would end up pulling their names off the ballot."
Behar rejected the idea that this would be the "death knell for Democrats," citing election results earlier in the week which "show voters are much more motivated by issues like keeping abortion rights safe," warning them against forgetting the potential electoral consequences of Trump's involvement in the end of Roe v. Wade.
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