Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who announced last year that he would not seek re-election in the Senate, has teased for months about a possible independent or third-party presidential run as a centrist alternative to likely major party nominees President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

That speculation ended on Friday when Manchin announced in no uncertain terms that he would not be mounting a presidential run in the 2024 election, NBC News reported.

There had been substantial fear among Democrats and liberal pundits that a presidential run by the moderate West Virginia Democrat would pull votes away from Biden and result in Trump being re-elected to a second term -- an outcome that Manchin signaled he wanted no part of being held responsible for.

"I will not be involved in a presidential run"

During a speech on Friday, Sen. Manchin said, "I will not be seeking a third-party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run," but instead would "be involved in making sure that we secure a president that has the knowledge and has the passion and has the ability to bring this country together."

He observed that while third-party presidential runs might prove to be viable in the future it would have been "very challenging" in the current cycle, and he further stated that he had no desire to play the role of "deal-breaker" or "spoiler" in the likely Biden vs. Trump rematch in November.

"I just don’t think it’s the right time," the retiring senator said of a third-party or independent presidential bid. "We’re on a real teetering situation here that could go either way. Democracy is at stake right now."

Disgusted with current partisan climate in D.C.

Politico reported that Sen. Manchin's remarks to end the talk about a presidential run during a speech on Friday at the University of West Virginia followed a months-long nationwide tour he had embarked on to test the waters and gauge public support for an outsider campaign for the presidency.

His comments came as a bit of a surprise to many, given that just one day earlier he had floated the idea of asking fellow outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who twice ran for but failed to achieve the presidency in 2008 and 2012, to be his running mate in an independent White House bid.

One possible reason for his decision to not launch a presidential run is his increasing disgust with how both the Democrats and Republicans have "weaponized the political process" in Congress and his assessment that changing the highly partisan culture of Washington D.C. from the inside is a near-impossible task.

"I am convinced you can’t fix it from Washington. And I’ve tried for 14 years," Manchin said during his speech. "This will be the least productive, most destructive Congress that we’ve ever had … people just want to get s--t done. I want to get it done too."

Centrist No Labels group pushing forward without Manchin

The Associated Press reported that Sen. Manchin had been considered a top prospect to be a presidential candidate for the centrist No Labels organization with which the senator was previously associated.

Though there are no official plans yet, that group has often discussed its desire to offer up a bipartisan "unity ticket" as a politically moderate option for voters turned off by ideological extremists on the left and right as well as for those who didn't want to vote for either President Biden or former President Trump in November.

A No Labels ticket could eventually emerge, albeit without Manchin or other prominent names similarly floated, according to a joint statement from the organization's trio of co-chairs, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, and former NAACP head Benjamin Chavis Jr.

"No Labels is currently speaking with several exceptional leaders about serving on the presidential Unity ticket. We are continuing to make great progress on our ballot access efforts and will announce in the coming weeks whether we will offer our line to a Unity ticket," the group said.