Manchin: Right Now I Have No Intention of Becoming an Independent

BRENNAN: “Well, you said recently —“

MANCHIN: So, I don’t —“

BRENNAN: “— you consider yourself strictly an independent. Do you see an advantage in this environment to becoming unaffiliated, to becoming an independent?”

MANCHIN: “Well, let’s see how basically these two pieces of legislation, which are really historic, as the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, let’s see how that plays out. If people are trying to stop something from doing so much good because of the politics, thinking that somebody else will get credit for it, let’s see how that plays out, and then I will let you know later what I decide to do. But, right now, I have no intentions of changing anything, except working for West Virginians, trying to give them more opportunities, better quality of life, and basically making sure our country is energy-secured. That means national security. We’ll be the superpower of the world.”

BRENNAN: “Yes.”

MANCHIN: “I’m not going to be relying on other parts of the world or other countries to delivering energy for what we need for our economy and our defense of our country.”