WASHINGTON -- Former Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is opening up about the wrath he faced from former President Joe Biden -- and how the West Virginian was quietly pulling for Republicans to retake the Senate this past November to save the filibuster.

In his forthcoming book, "Dead Center," Manchin -- the former West Virginia governor who repped the Mountain State for more than 14 years in the Senate -- accused prominent Democrats of undermining the system of checks and balances for more than a decade.

"I don't say this lightly, but under the leadership of President [Barack] Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid, and later President Biden and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrats have systematically tried to weaken the very guardrails that have protected our democracy for generations -- all in the name of advancing their agenda," wrote Manchin, 78, in an excerpt obtained by Punchbowl News.

Manchin, who opted not to seek a third full term in 2024, often found himself at loggerheads with Democratic leadership over his concerns that the far left had too much sway in the party.

In his final term, Manchin and fellow Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona took a public stance against doing away with the Senate's 60-vote legislative filibuster.

In 2022, Manchin recounted, he faced pressure from Schumer to weaken the filibuster to pass election legislation.

"Schumer wasn't interested in debate or persuasion," Manchin wrote. "He wanted a spectacle. He wanted a vote he could weaponize, a moment he could broadcast to the radical left to prove his loyalty. This wasn't about governing or principle. It was about power."

Manchin, who flirted with a presidential run last year, revealed that he felt so strongly about preserving the filibuster that he privately wanted the GOP to win in 2024 because he saw it as "the only hope for preserving the Senate as an institution."

Turning to Biden, Manchin knocked the 46th president for having a "very bad temper," though the West Virginian apparently was willing to give as good as he got.

In early 2021, during negotiations over the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, Manchin says he called out Biden as "reckless" for "sending a f -- ing check to everyone."

The American Rescue Plan was blamed in part for annual inflation hitting 9.1% in June 2022 -- the highest rate in nearly 40 years.

Manchin, who describes himself as "fiscally responsible and socially compassionate," stressed that he had other gripes with the Democrats, faulting the party for going too "woke" and diverging from its roots as "a big tent that welcomed diverse perspectives."

"When the party pushes hard on woke ideology, DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] mandates, and other social agendas, it creates unnecessary divisions, alienates everyday citizens, and moves us further away from the commonsense middle ground where most Americans actually live their lives," he argued.

Manchin, who was often rumored to be mulling a party switch during his final months in the Senate, also indicated in the excerpt that he should have crossed the aisle after Trump's first election in 2016.

"What I failed to recognize at the time is that there were enough reasons to change my political affiliation to Republican right then and there," Manchin reflected.

"I never thought that for my political life or livelihood I should change my party affiliation, which is what I should have done if I was focused on what was politically advantageous," he clarified. "Instead, I just kept thinking that I would continue to be so independent that the Republicans wouldn't like me any more than the Democrats."

Ironically, despite their past clashes, Schumer reportedly asked Manchin to run for re-election in 2024 in a bid to keep the seat in Democratic hands.

A rep for Schumer declined to comment when contacted by The Post.

"Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense," is set to hit bookshelves on Tuesday.

Manchin ripped Biden for 'sending a f---ing check to everyone,'...