Former West Virginia Senator Wasn't Playing These Games With a CBS News Host Over Socialism

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) has been clear and determined to change the direction of our politics. He’s tired of the games, which is partly why he didn’t run for reelection. Also, he probably would’ve lost if he had run again; West Virginia has changed since 2010. He specifically wants his party to moderate, noting that without red-state Democrats, it cannot succeed. He’s right—look what’s happened to the party since the liberal base became wealthier, whiter, and more educated. It’s a mess. Granted, I couldn’t care less if Democrats do well—I want them to implode. 

Yet, Manchin is one of the more sensible voices on the left-leaning side of the spectrum, and he was not pleased that CBS News’ Margaret Brennan started off with a question about whether he would endorse a socialist:

CBS News's Margaret Brennan defends socialism prompting Joe Manchin to respond: "Are you crazy?"

Brennan: "Could you ever support a self-described socialist candidate?"

Manchin: "No. No way. My God, no."

Brennan: "Even if they have some good ideas?"

Manchin: "I support the… pic.twitter.com/0SuWIsyrfI

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 2, 2026

Brennan: "Could you ever support a self-described socialist candidate?"

Manchin: "No. No way. My God, no."

Brennan: "Even if they have some good ideas?"

Manchin: "I support the good ideas. But how could you support some of the crazy stuff they're for? Have you seen their platform? They're for dismantling everything that we know, whether it be, whether it be the structure of government, Congress itself, or the Senate they want to get rid of, and then they start talking about all the crazy things, no police, no this, no this, no that. Are you crazy? 

We want, we want, a crime-free area. We have to have police for that. Yeah. We want a strong defense, we want a strong border. But if Democrats can't say that, and they start lining up with the socialist demands of how... Energy will be gone. There'll be no energy, okay? We have right now a tremendous amount of energy we're producing, and the world depends more on us than ever before."

Also, Manchin was not having any of Brennan’s ‘Bernie is an independent’ nonsense, pointing out that Mr. Sanders is a socialist. He doesn’t hide it. He owns it, so what are we even doing here?

Joe Manchin fact-checks Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation:

Brennan: "Bernie Sanders, he's an independent."

Joe Manchin: "Bernie's a socialist... Bernie has always been who he is." pic.twitter.com/Sg7Yy6ejT7

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 2, 2026

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