The Sunday morning talk shows always yield some interesting content. On this Sunday, August 2nd, on CBS's Face the Nation, former Senator Joe Manchin and his daughter, Americans Together CEO Heather Manchin, appeared with host Margaret Brennan, where the former Senator had some interesting things to say about the pernicious spread of "democratic socialism" and how it is, as the former Senator describes it, crazy stuff.
CBS News's Margaret Brennan defends socialism prompting Joe Manchin to respond: "Are you crazy?"
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 2, 2026
Brennan: "Could you ever support a self-described socialist candidate?"
Manchin: "No. No way. My God, no."
Brennan: "Even if they have some good ideas?"
Manchin: "I support the… pic.twitter.com/0SuWIsyrfI
You can see the transcript of the full interview here. This is the referenced piece:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Heather, could you ever support a self-described socialist candidate?
HEATHER MANCHIN: No.
FORMER SEN. MANCHIN: No way. My God, no.
MARGARET BRENNAN: No? Even if they had some good ideas?
HEATHER MANCHIN: And it surprises- and it--
FORMER SEN. MANCHIN: I support the good ideas, but how could you support some of the crazy stuff they're for? Have you seen their platform? They're for just dismantling everything that we know, whether it be the- whether it be the structure of government, Congress itself, or the Senate, they want to get rid of. And then they start talking about all the crazy things. No police, no this, no this, no that. Are you crazy? We want- we want a crime-free area. We have to have police for that.
He's not wrong. These wackadoodle ideas include such things as abolishing two of the three co-equal branches of the federal government as well as half of the third, for example, reducing the United States to being run by something that would become a politburo in all but name. That's crazy, as is eliminating prisons, the police, the military, everything they say they want to do - and yes, they are coming right out and saying these things. We should take them seriously, too, because there's no reason to doubt that they really mean it.
Senator Manchin goes on to explain why he didn't run in the 2024 presidential election as an independent. Now, in practical terms, that was impossible, and even if it was, and he doesn't bring this point up, it would have split the Democrat vote and handed Donald Trump a victory. The problem in 2024 hinged on ballot access.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, when you were talking about why you did not run in 2024 for president, you said you didn't want to be a spoiler.
FORMER SEN. MANCHIN: I couldn't get on all 50 ballots. You put me on 50 ballots, then I have a platform, I can speak.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well it--
FORMER SEN. MANCHIN: But I have no chance of winning because I'm only on 16 ballots or 20 ballots statewide, nation- national wide.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, it was really ballot access--
FORMER SEN. MANCHIN: It's ballot access.
That's the problem with every would-be third party candidate. It's built in to our current two-party system, and yes, there's an argument to be made that it's a restriction on the choices available to voters, but that's a topic for another time. Joe Manchin, though, is far from the first moderate Democrat or ex-Democrat to point this problem out, and if you want to be made a little more nervous about the whole thing, just look at who the Democrat front-runners for the 2028 presidential election are: Kamala Harris, for crying out loud, with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) mentioned frequently as a running mate.
If the Democrats were serious about the 2028 elections, they'd go to someone like Joe Manchin and beg him to run. Let's hope they never figure that one out.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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