Joe Manchin reveals he's NOT running for president after months of threatening a challenge to Biden on a third-party ticket

•  Manchin ruled out an independent run for president
• The moderate Democrat has teased the idea of a presidential run for months
• Experts worried a more moderate candidate would only help former President Donald Trump beat President Joe Biden in 2024

Sen. Joe Manchin announced Friday he will not run an independent campaign for president.

‘I will not be seeking a third-party run,’ he said during a speech at West Virginia University. ‘I will not be involved in a presidential run.’

Details of the announcement was first reported by the Washington Post.

The West Virginia Democrat is one of a few moderate United States senators who continued weighing a challenge versus the aging President Joe Biden and the bombastic former President Donald Trump.

Manchin repeatedly cited the need to offer voters a more centrist sensible option in the 2024 presidential election.

He announced in November he would retire from the Senate and not run for re-election in 2024 while kicking off a ‘listening tour’ across the country before making a decision about his political future.

Americans Together founder and U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks at The New Hampshire Institute of Politics

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is surrounded by reporters as he heads to a vote in the Senate

On Thursday, Manchin teased reporters about a possible presidential announcement, during an appearance at the City Club of Cleveland breakfast.

‘Third party run, everything is on the table,’ Manchin said in response to a question from NBC News. ‘Nothing’s off the table. I’m still evaluating all that.’

He also teased a possible pick for a running mate if he ran for president.

‘Hypothetically, if I was picking my running mate, really who I would ask right now is Mitt Romney,’ Manchin said.

Romney joked with reporters in response to Manchin’s comment.

‘Well, that’s really presumptuous,’ Romney said. ‘I would be the president. He would be my running mate.’

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) (R) speaks with U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Vice President Joe Biden

Romney and Manchin, both who are retiring from the Senate, frequently chatter about creating a new political party, both frustrated with the direction of the Republican and Democratic party.

Democrats were incensed by the idea of Manchin launching a third-party run, arguing it would only siphon off votes from Biden to help Trump.

The ‘working slogan’ for the party, Romney explained to his biographer, was ‘stop the stupid’ but the idea never turned into a reality.

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