Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) said on Sunday it "wouldn't be wise" for Hillary Clinton to campaign for him in West Virginia during his 2018 reelection campaign.
Manchin appeared on MSNBC’s "Kasie DC" where host Kasie Hunt asked about Clinton, their friendship and how it has changed over the years, especially after Clinton made so-described "horrific" comments about coal miners during her 2016 presidential campaign.
Shortly after Clinton’s damning comment, "we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business," Manchin sat down for a May 2016 panel discussion to help court West Virginia voters for Clinton. A former coal miner in attendance asked the presidential candidate, "I just want to know how you can say you’re going to put a lot of coal miners out of, out of jobs, and then come in here and tell us how you’re going to be our friend?"
Clinton responded by calling her comment a "misstatement."
Clinton ultimately lost every county in West Virginia in 2016, giving Trump 68.7 percent of the vote.
Hunt asked Manchin if he is a "dead man walking" in the upcoming 2018 elections, as a result of being a Democrat in a state that voted so strongly for Donald Trump.
"I sure don't think so," Manchin said. "Some people would like that to happen. In West Virginia, I am who I am."
Hunt further asked if he would want Clinton to campaign for him in West Virginia.
"It wouldn't be wise for Hillary to come to West Virginia," Manchin said. "It wouldn't be a good thing, for her or for me."
The senator, nevertheless, said he stood by Clinton. Even at the time of her comments about putting coal miners out of business, he stood by the then presidential candidate, saying, "If I thought that was in her heart – if I thought she wanted to eliminate one job in West Virginia, I wouldn’t be sitting here."
Manchin reiterated the sentiment to Hunt on Sunday, reflecting on his friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
"The Clintons are friends of mine, they’ve been friends of mine," Manchin said. "You can separate friendship from politics, surely you can. And if you can't today, then what's happened to the whole political process were in?"
"We had a great relationship. It's just things that were said. It's just very harmful, and very hard to justify or say," Manchin continued. "She made a big mistake, and it was wrong. That's all I can say."
While Manchin doesn't think it "wise" for Clinton to campaign for him, he ultimately does not think it should impact his friendship.
"With that, you don't throw friendship out just because someone says something you don't approve or you disagree with them," Manchin said.
Watch Clinton's comment on putting "a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business" here: