Senator Joe Manchin called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, adding his voice to about three dozen U.S. lawmakers who are publicly saying it’s time to find a new Democratic nominee.
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(Bloomberg) — Sen. Joe Manchin is calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, adding his voice to about three dozen U.S. lawmakers who are publicly saying it’s time to find a new Democratic nominee.
“I come with a heavy heart to think it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation,” Manchin, who left the Democratic Party in May to register as an independent, said on ABC’s “This Week” and in similar comments on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
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As Biden spends the weekend at his beach house in Delaware recovering from Covid-19, the stage was open Sunday for supporters and critics to take sides as the president struggles to defend his re-election bid against mounting pressure from allies, donors and voters.
Rep. James Clyburn, one of Biden’s most influential supporters, reiterated his support for the president, saying polls showing Biden trailing former President Donald Trump in the race were just a snapshot in time.
“Is he the only one? No, he’s not the only one, and he’s one of the best candidates we could put forward. And I stand with him until he changes his mind — if he has to change his mind,” Clyburn, who is credited with reviving Biden’s candidacy in the 2020 election, told CNN.
Three in five Americans say Biden should drop out of the presidential race, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday. While 39 percent of Americans would be satisfied with Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee, only 34 percent preferred Biden to lead the pack, according to ABC.
Clyburn said a “mini-primary” is a default option for choosing a replacement for Biden if he drops out, but he cautioned against allowing an open process at next month’s Democratic National Convention, saying it has led to chaos and defeat in the past.
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Manchin, who had a difficult history of policy differences with Biden before leaving the party, attends Democratic caucuses and is the fourth U.S. senator on this side of the aisle to urge the president to step down.
Manchin said he had not spoken to Biden in the past three weeks, but had spoken to his colleagues and people who worked with Biden. He called for an open process to select a new Democratic nominee.
“Healthy competition is what matters. There’s a lot of talent in this field,” Manchin said on ABC’s This Week.
Manchin, a centrist from West Virginia, has been a major obstacle to passing crucial parts of Biden’s agenda as the White House relied on the slim Democratic majority in the Senate and criticized the administration’s energy legislation.
Manchin was previously considered a potential third-party candidate in 2024, but he dismissed those expectations earlier this year and reiterated again on Sunday that he would not seek the presidency. He also will not run for reelection to the Senate.
In February, Manchin told National Public Radio that he didn’t see any age issues with Biden during interactions with him, but criticized the president for not appealing enough to moderate voters.
Manchin has spoken out against the White House’s implementation of the Biden Inflation Reduction Act, which he helped pass, and in 2023, he accused the Biden administration of undermining the legislation with a “radical climate agenda.”
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