Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) on Monday threw his support behind actor Matthew McConaughey's recent appeal for voters to consider independent candidates in the midterm elections, calling the message "absolutely so accurate."
In an interview with Blake Burman on NewsNation's "The Hill," Manchin said McConaughey's call for a "fair fight" resonates because the country is too polarized. "It's not that [you] run through them. It means you have to run with them. If they don't go with you and you're completely extreme to the left or to the right, you can't get anywhere," Manchin said.
McConaughey, in a social media post on Sunday, referenced Manchin's Independent Leadership Council, which the former senator launched last year. The actor argued that the nation's top identity is "independent," and that independents should be on the ballot "not as a protest, not as a spoiler—but as a real and potential winner."
Manchin echoed that sentiment, saying that a small bloc of centrist lawmakers could force both parties to work together. "If you want to get something done and you have two, three, or four in the middle [who] says, 'I will work with either side who has our country's best interest at heart,' that's where we'll go," he said. "But if you're playing just to the party to demonize the other side, count us out."
The former Democrat also invoked President George Washington's farewell address, which warned against political factions, and argued that parties have become too powerful. "How do they control everything? How do they get all the elections to where they're able to control—change the laws and change the rules?" Manchin asked.
Looking ahead, Manchin urged Democrats, if they regain control of Congress, to focus on governing rather than retribution. "If you're going for retaliation and retribution, you're going down the Primrose path you can't return from," he warned.
On McConaughey's political future, Manchin said the actor has the qualities to run for president. "He's smart. He's charismatic. He's able to communicate. He's able to tell a story that makes sense and you'll listen to," Manchin said. "I'd be 1,000 percent behind him."
The Senate currently has two independents—Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine)—while Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.), who left the GOP, is the only unaffiliated House member facing a tough reelection. Manchin's comments come as Republicans worry about alienating independents in key races.
