Former President Bill Clinton has allegedly made an important intervention in the 2024 presidential race by convincing two candidates not to run against Donald Trump.

According to a report from New York Magazine, Clinton successfully convinced Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that running as a third-party candidate would land Donald Trump another term in the White House. 

The report explains:

Late last June, when Bill Clinton welcomed Larry Hogan to Little Rock, the ex-president realized he had an opportunity to step carefully back into the political fray. The pair was scheduled for a ticketed chat about bipartisanship on Clinton’s home turf just as Hogan, the former Maryland governor, was rumored to be thinking about a third-party presidential run via the No Labels group, which he was also co-chairing. 

Before they walked onstage, Clinton delicately made his view clear to the Republican, even though Hogan hadn’t asked: Any independent campaign of the kind No Labels was talking about could only benefit Donald Trump.

Clinton was apparently "considerably more forceful" with Manchin, who was said to be even more interested in the possibility than Hogan: 

He wasn’t done yet. Two months later, Clinton heard from Joe Manchin, who was vacationing near the Clintons’ spot in East Hampton and wanted advice about his political future. Clinton had heard real concern from fellow Democrats that the West Virginian would head a No Labels ticket himself, and he’d previously discussed the politically tricky senator with the Biden White House when administration officials asked for his help winning Manchin over on legislation.

Manchin was being far more open about the attractiveness of an independent run than Hogan was. So when they met in person, Clinton decided to get considerably more forceful than their placid surroundings might have suggested. This time, he ditched the diplomatic niceties and told the senator sharply that he was risking putting Trump back in the White House.

Both Hogan and Manchin have since announced they will not be pursuing an independent campaign.

Although the No Labels ticket has yet to find or endorse any specific individual, there is still an array of possible candidates who could run on their ticket. Among them is former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who has repeatedly refused to rule out throwing her name in the ring.

Someone who has increasingly been muted about her own potential third party run is Nikki Haley, who continues to decline to drop out the Republican primary process despite having next to no chance of winning. 

Yet, although she has rowed back on her pledge to endorse Donald Trump when the primary is over, Haley recently appeared to play down the possibility of running her own third-party campaign. Last week, she insisted she remains a "conservative Republican' who is not interested in running alongside a Democrat such as Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who indicated he would be open to the idea. 

"I’ve been a conservative Republican my whole life. I’m not going to switch over and have a Democrat vice president," she said in a recent interview with Fox News. "That’s not something I would do. My heart has always been with the Republican Party and this country. So that’s what I’m gonna do."