West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong Democrat who left the party earlier this year to become an independent and is now stepping down from the Senate after 15 years, is warning about members of his former party.

“The D-brand has been so maligned from the standpoint of – it’s just, it’s toxic,” Manchin told CNN, saying he had not been able to consider himself a Democrat “in the form of what Democratic Party has turned itself into.”

“They have basically expanded upon thinking: ‘Well, we want to protect you there, but we’re going to tell you how you should live your life from that far on,’” Manchin said, referring to the Democratic Party being hijacked by progressives.

Manchin predicted that the country would “not go left.” He also said that the party that used to focus on basic issues like “good job, good pay” was now focused on sensitive social issues like LGBTQ+ rights, while neither they nor Republicans were responsible for the federal budget.

In addition, the senator said that Republicans lacked common sense when it came to gun control and that neither party had come up with a good way to deal with the constant high number of mass killings.

“They’re too extreme – it’s just common sense,” Manchin said of parties. “So the Democrats go too far, want to ban. The Republican says: ‘Oh, let the good times roll. Let anybody have anything they want.’”

Manchin predicted that the country would “not go left.” He also said that the party that used to focus on basic issues like “good job, good pay” was now focused on sensitive social issues like LGBTQ+ rights, while neither they nor Republicans were responsible for the federal budget.

In addition, the senator said that Republicans lacked common sense when it came to gun control and that neither party had come up with a good way to deal with the constant high number of mass killings.

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

“Every red-blooded American should want your president to succeed, whether you vote for him or not, whether the same party or not, whether you like him or not,” Manchin added.

But he also said he believed it is time for a third party in the US – called the American party – that would serve as center ground for moderate Democrats and Republicans.

“The centrist-moderate vote decides who’s going to be the president of the United States. And when they get here, they don’t govern that way. Neither side does. They go to their respective corners. If the center had a voice and had a party that could make both of these – the Democrat, Republican party – come back, OK, that would be something,” Manchin said.

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Manchin declared in November that he would not run for re-election due to his challenging opponent, Republican Gov. Jim Justice.

Justice went on to win the race in November, helping Republicans gain control of the U.S. Senate.

“I’ve made one of the toughest decisions in my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” he said in a statement.

“But what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together. We need to take back America and not let this divisive hatred further pull us apart,” Manchin added.