Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin appears at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, September 6, 2023.
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Independent Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race against former President Donald Trump.
“I made this decision with a heavy heart and I think it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation,” Manchin said on CNN. “States of the Union.”
West Virginia State Senator, registered as independent But caucuses with Democrats have also called for an open nomination process, suggesting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as contenders. That contrasts with the person others consider Vice President Kamala Harris most likely to take the seat.
As Manchin made the rounds at a broadcast media gathering on Sunday, he reiterated that he still believes Biden has enough brains to serve out the remainder of his term. Manchin also said that the Biden team knew in advance that he would make this decision.
Pressure has grown on Biden to abandon his re-election bid since June’s disastrous debate with Trump. Along with Manchin, there are at least 36 Democratic congressmanincluding four senators, Calls for Biden to drop out of the race and let a new nominee take the helm.
Manchin has been signaling over the past week that his support for Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is declining.
The day after Trump was assassinated at a rally in Pennsylvania, Manchin issued a statement condemning political violence and acknowledging the vulnerability of the Democratic Party led by Biden.
“While Democrats must realize that in addition to losing the presidency, they risk losing the Senate and even the House of Representatives, they have done nothing to expand their reach and attract more Americans,” Manchin wrote on Sunday.
He added: “Sadly, their public support of President Biden in the face of his irredeemable debate performance is just evidence of how much control the far left has over the current administration.”
During the Biden administration, Manchin positioned himself as a conservative Democrat and at times opposed much of the president’s agenda.
Earlier in this election cycle, he appeared to consider running for the White House as an independent, and that seems more likely after he announced he would not run for re-election in the Senate, keeping his seat in a deep red state. big. But in February, he quelled speculation and said he would not launch a third-party campaign.
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