U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a longtime Democrat who left the party earlier this year to become an independent and is now stepping down from the Senate after 15 years, issued a series of warnings to members of his former party on Sunday.

“The D brand has been so maligned because it’s just toxic,” Manchin told CNN, saying he hasn’t been able to consider himself a Democrat “in the form that the Democratic Party is becoming.” has”.

Manchin, a wealthy coal magnate, said the party’s approach had become censorious and dictatorial toward ordinary Americans, and he blamed progressives for the change.

“Basically they expanded on the idea of, ‘Well, we want to protect you there, but we’re going to tell you how to live your life from now on,'” Manchin told the outlet.

Manchin predicted that the country is “not going left” and said a party that once focused on fundamental issues like “good work, good pay” was now preoccupied with sensitive social issues – highlighting LGBTQ+ rights – while this is not the case nor are the Republicans taking responsibility for the federal budget.

The senator also said that Republicans lack common sense on the issue of gun control and that none of them have taken a sensible approach to the persistently high number of mass shootings.

“They’re too extreme — that’s just common sense,” Manchin said of parties. “The Democrats are going too far and want to ban it. The Republican says, ‘Oh, let the good times roll.’ Let everyone have what they want.’”

Asked about Greg Casar, the future leader of the progressive wing in Congress, that Democrats would have won the election if they had been more like progressive Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Manchin replied: “For someone to say that, they have to “It should be completely crazy.”

The senator also blamed Kamala Harris’ White House election loss to Donald Trump in November on her struggling to present herself as a moderate candidate after supporting progressive causes during her Democratic nomination in 2019.

“When you try to be someone you’re not, it’s hard,” Manchin noted. The senator did not publicly support Harris’ campaign. On Sunday, he declined to say which candidate he voted for in November – but said he likes the president-elect and recently told him, “I want to help in any way I can” and wants him to succeed.

“Every bloodthirsty American should want their president to succeed, whether you vote for him or not, whether you belong to the same party or not, whether you like him or not,” Manchin added.

But he also said he believed it was time for a third party in the US – the so-called American Party – that would serve as a focal point for moderate Democrats and Republicans.

“The centrist vote will determine who becomes President of the United States. And when they get here, they won’t rule this way. Neither side does. They go to their respective corners,” Manchin said.

“If the center had a voice and had a party that could bring back both the Democratic and Republican parties, OK, that would be something.”

In a more policy-focused session on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Manchin said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson “needs Congress to deal with the worst performance in the history of our country.”

The turmoil during the previous session, which featured a protracted leadership battle, left Republicans “in trouble and (they) can’t get anything passed.” And he criticized the party for failing to reach out to Democrats “to continue to have a majority with some bipartisanship.”

Manchin predicted that Trump would understand his role as president “much better now than he did in 2016 when he first won.”

“He has some experience,” Manchin added. “He understands the process and the power he wields right now.”