The Democratic-aligned Duty and Honor super political action committee (PAC) released a digital advertisement Monday promoting West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s work with former President Donald Trump, according to the video.
Manchin has yet to announce whether he will seek reelection next year, and has also been floated as a potential third-party candidate to run for president on the centrist organization No Labels’ “unity ticket.” The advertisement details Manchin working with Trump to protect West Virginia coal miners‘ pensions and health care benefits, and ends with saying “tell Manchin to keep fighting for West Virginia.”
“When miners’ pension checks were being chipped away, Joe Manchin protected our hard earned benefits, and worked with President Trump to protect over 100,000 miners’ pensions,” the video said. “And when grid lock in Washington threatened to take away our health care, Sen. Manchin made sure nobody touched our benefits, and helped secure health insurance for 22,000 minors — that’s the West Virginia way.”
Duty and Honor, which is affiliated with Senate Democrats, will run its six-figure ad buy on Facebook, YouTube and Google, Politico reported Tuesday. (Here’s What West Virginia Dems Think Of Joe Manchin’s Political Future In 2024)
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, reacted to the digital ad Tuesday, and emphasized Manchin’s previous criticism of Trump. The committee pointed to Manchin supporting impeachment against the then-president and voting against acquitting Trump over whether he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Don’t be fooled – There’s no bigger fraud in the US Senate than Joe Manchin,” Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, wrote in a subsequent tweet. “He pretends to be a Pro-Trump moderate whenever he has an election coming up in West Virginia, but when it actually matters, he always does exactly what Chuck Schumer and the Dems tell him to do in DC!!”
Manchin maintains that he hasn’t decided whether to run for reelection or seek higher office, and recently admitted he’s “thinking seriously” about departing from the Democratic Party to become an independent. If he runs for another term in the Senate, he would likely face either Republican Gov. Jim Justice or GOP Rep. Alex Mooney in the general election.
Justice and Mooney would both beat the senator in 2024 by approximately 20 points and 1 point, respectively, according to a late May East Carolina University Center for Survey Research poll. The survey indicates Justice is leading Mooney for the GOP nomination 53% to 12%.
Many Democrats are worried that Manchin running on the No Labels ticket for president would hand the White House and Senate over to the GOP, arguing the senator would garner more votes from President Joe Biden than potentially from Trump. No Labels will likely not run a third-party candidate in the event that the former president isn’t the Republican nominee.
Manchin did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment, and the super PAC could not be reached.
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