Manchin signals he could endorse Harris while Romney stays coy

Washington (CNN) — Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat-turned-independent who had toyed with a presidential run and has long been a thorn in the side of the left, has been mum about the candidate he’s backing in November.

But that could soon change.

In an interview with CNN, the veteran West Virginia senator signaled he may get off the sidelines. And he plans to speak to Vice President Kamala Harris soon.

“Oh I could see that, yes,” Manchin told CNN when asked if he’d endorse a candidate before November.

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nominee who voted twice to convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trials, reiterated his disdain for Trump – and objected to the former president’s refusal to say at last week’s debate that he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia.

Asked twice if he would endorse Harris, Romney pointedly refused to say.

“I’m certainly not going to be voting for former President Trump, and I think that’s been very clear,” Romney said when asked the first time whether he’d back Harris.

Asked again about supporting Harris, Romney said: “I don’t have anything on that at this stage.”

The comments by Manchin and Romney – two retiring senators who have been on the outs with their respective party’s base – underscore how Trump has turned off some more moderate voters but also how Harris herself has yet to close the deal with right-leaning voters skeptical of the former president.

A third Trump detractor, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, doesn’t plan to vote for Harris, even as she said of the former president’s debate performance, “I don’t think it was Donald Trump’s best evening.”

Manchin, who refused to say in 2012 if he’d vote for Barack Obama for reelection, seems most likely of the three to endorse Harris. The former Democrat downplayed Harris’ more liberal politics and sounded positive about the direction of her campaign. And he rebutted criticism that she was too far to the left for him.

“I think she’s moving in the right direction. Things I’m hearing are sounding very good,” Manchin said, adding that he wants to make sure the two have “a very good conversation. We will do that.”

“She comes from California. I expect her to be different than where I came from,” Manchin added. “She seems to be looking at the larger picture now, which is very encouraging.”

Manchin said he’s been playing phone tag with Harris and is “looking forward to a conversation” about energy, the national debt and keeping in tact the Senate’s filibuster, the potent stall tactic that requires 60 votes to overcome.

“I would like to make sure that she understands the need for us to have a filibuster in the Senate, being a former senator, of how it kind of calms things down, makes us work together,” he said. “If they’re willing to discard all of that, they’re willing to throw caution to the wind, we’re in serious problems.”

In the interview in the Capitol last week, Romney heavily criticized the former president’s refusal to say that Ukraine should win the war against Russia and his use of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a character witness of sorts.

“The president surely had to say, ‘Of course, I want Ukraine to win. I want Ukraine to be successful,’ and then he can talk about how you define success and winning. But we stand with democracies. We stand with nations that are now being invaded by their neighbors, particularly invaded by Russia,” Romney added. “So, it was a huge gap that I think caused a collective gasp from nations around the world.”

Romney contended that Orban’s “authoritarian tendencies” are well known, “and that’s not someone who I would say, ‘This is a badge of honor, you know, he’s the guy who likes me.’”

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