Joe Manchin Still Avoids Describing Himself as a Democrat

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, presides over a hearing in Washington on Feb. 16, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) gave an elusive answer when he was recently asked about his loyalty to the Democratic Party.

Manchin, who is a Democratic senator in one of the most Republican states in the country, has repeatedly cast himself as a moderate or a centrist in his party and has occasionally opposed President Joe Biden and other Democratic party leaders.