Outgoing West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin told CNN that the Democrat Party is “so toxic” and that the country is “not going left.”
Manchin said that “Washington Democrats have tried to mainstream the extreme.”
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice won the senate race for Manchin’s empty seat in November, flipping it red.
Manchin left the Democrat Party earlier in the year and is now registered as an independent.
Speaking to CNN’s Manu Raju in an interview that aired on Sunday, Manchin said, “I am not a Democrat.