(Bloomberg) -- Senator Joe Manchin called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, adding his voice to those of about three dozen US lawmakers publicly saying it’s time to find a new Democratic candidate.
“I come with a heavy heart to think the time has come for him 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. He made similar comments on CNN’s State of the Union.
With Biden spending the weekend at his Delaware beach house recovering from Covid-19, the field was open on Sunday for supporters and detractors to take a stand as the president battles to defend his reelection bid against growing pressure from allies, donors and voters.
The pressure from Manchin dog-piles onto another challenge the campaign is facing internally. The president’s reelection team went on a spending spree last month, wiping out about 93% of the cash it raised in June, while some donors are reluctant to keep giving amid concerns about the 81-year-old Biden’s age.
Despite growing calls for the president to step aside, Biden said he would return to the campaign trail this week. The initial pause was prompted by the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13, and was extended for Biden’s Covid-19 isolation.
The president is also expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday during the Israeli leader’s visit to Washington.
Biden’s Covid symptoms “have improved significantly,” presidential physician Kevin O’Connor said in an update Sunday.
Path Forward
Biden-Harris campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond reiterated support for Biden, saying that the president is “going to be the candidate” and is in “a fighting mode.”
“What I’m confident in is that the Biden-Harris team ticket can beat Donald Trump, and that America needs them to beat Donald Trump,” Richmond said on CBS’s Face the Nation.
Representative Jim Clyburn, an 84-year-old South Carolina Democrat who is one of Biden’s most influential supporters, renewed his backing for the president, saying polls that show Biden lagging Trump in the race are only a snapshot in time.
“Is he the only one? No, he’s not the only one, and he is among the best that we can put forward,” Clyburn, whose support during the primary is credited with reviving Biden’s 2020 candidacy, said on CNN. “And I stand with him until he changes his mind — if he should change his mind.”
Three in five Americans say Biden should drop out of the presidential race, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll published Sunday. While 39% would be satisfied with Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee, only 34% preferred Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, according to ABC.
Clyburn said a “mini-primary” is a hypothetical option to choose a replacement for Biden if he dropped out, but he warned against allowing an open process at next month’s Democratic National Convention, saying it had led to chaos and defeat in the past.
Manchin, who had a history of policy disagreements with Biden before leaving the party, caucuses with Democrats and is the fourth US senator on that side of the aisle to urge the president to step aside.
Manchin said he hasn’t spoken with Biden in the last three weeks, but talked to associates and people who have worked with Biden. He called for an open process to select a new Democratic nominee.
“A healthy competition is what it’s all about,” Manchin said on ABC. “There’s so much talent out there.”
Manchin, a centrist from West Virginia, was a major roadblock in passing critical pieces of Biden’s agenda when the White House relied on the slim Democratic majority in the Senate and has criticized the administration’s energy legislation. He also criticized Biden for not appealing enough to moderate voters.
Once considered a possible third-party candidate for 2024, Manchin, 76, struck down the prospect this year and repeated on Sunday that he wouldn’t seek a presidential run. He also isn’t running for reelection to the Senate.
The June 19-20 ABC/Ipsos poll of 1,141 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
(Updates with Biden doctor’s Covid update in seventh paragraph.)
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