Manchin: ‘We Can’t Go too Far Left — This Is Not a Center-Left or Left Country’

During a Thursday appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) warned his fellow Democrats of going “too far left.”

Host John Berman asked Manchin about Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s (D-VA) statement that “Nobody elected [President Joe Biden] to be FDR, they elected him to be normal and stop the chaos.”

Manchin, who has drawn ire from his Democratic colleagues for his hesitancy to vote in favor of Biden’s massive spending package, said he believed in the president. He cautioned Democrats from going “too far left” because “this is not a center-left or left country.”

“I think [Biden] can do that,” Manchin replied. “I really do. I believe in President Biden. I still do. And I will always because he’s a good person. He’s here for the right reason; he really is in government for the right reason.  We just have to work together. We can’t go too far left. This is not a center-left or a left country. We are a center, if anything, a little center-right country, and that’s being shown. And we ought to be able to recognize that.”

“I always say that I’m a responsible West Virginia Democrat. And I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. I think most people in the middle feel that way,” he added.

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent