Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) urged President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign, citing growing Democratic concerns about Biden’s electability following last month’s debate.
Manchin, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, emphasized the urgency of the situation during separate interviews on Sunday morning talk shows, saying he was making such calls “with a heavy heart,” according to his comments to ABC’s This Week.
“The first week after the debate, I thought the president needed time to evaluate and make a decision if he was going to at that time, and then I thought, well, we’d hear from my colleagues who are in very difficult, challenging areas of the country, whether it be in Congress, as far as their districts, or in the states, as far as my senators, and they’re speaking out now. And then when you see the donor class, basically, speaking up and saying that they went a different direction, if you will,” he said.
Manchin similarly told CNN’s State of The Union that “it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation,” without specifying who the Democrats’ choice would be should Biden choose to bow out of the 2024 presidential race. He cited Govs. Andy Beshear (D-KY) and Josh Shapiro (D-PA) as two examples of moderate Democrats that the party should consider if Biden ends his campaign.
“I’ve got two tremendous governors right next door to me and Andy Beshear in Kentucky and Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania who are operating with legislators either evenly split or completely opposite of their party affiliation,” Manchin said. “They haven’t divided their state. They haven’t made you pick aside and demonize the other side. They brought people together. This is what an open process would do.”
Last week and into this weekend, Biden and his campaign have maintained that he will be the Democratic nominee despite the growing list of lawmakers in his party who have called on him to reconsider his reelection plans. Twelve more Democrats amped up calls for Biden to resign on Friday, according to the Washington Post.
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Although Manchin said he believes Biden should end his current campaign, he still believes Biden has the mental fortitude to finish out the remainder of his first term in office.
“I think basically he can finish this job that he started and finish the way he wanted to lead,” Manchin said.
