Sen. Joe Manchin (I.Va.) on Sunday joined a chorus of lawmakers who believe President Joe Biden should withdraw from the 2024 election.
The West Virginia independent, who left the Democratic party in May, said in a series of speeches that the 81-year-old incumbent should let someone else choose a candidate to run against former President Donald Trump.
“It is with a heavy heart that I say it’s time for him to pass the baton to a new generation,” Manchin said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Biden’s shaky performance in a June debate with the 78-year-old Republican challenger has raised concerns about whether he can serve a second term or even win in November. A recent Associated Press/University of North Carolina poll found that 70% of Americans and about two-thirds of Democrats think the president should step aside.
Manchin, who is not seeking reelection, said Sunday that if Biden drops out of the race, he would “go down in history as one of the finest and truest (patriotic) Americans, leaving a legacy unlike many.”
Other senators have also been on the list urging Biden to step down, including Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, both Democrats who are seen as at risk of losing their seats this fall, which could lead to the Senate coming back into Republican control.
Biden and his reelection team have been fighting back against the insurrection for weeks, claiming they won the Democratic primaries with little opposition across the country and with the support of millions of Democratic voters.
“I don’t know how many more times I can say this, but what matters to us is the voters,” Quentin Fulks, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said on MSNBC on Sunday.
“They will decide the outcome of this election and our campaign is focused on communicating with them.”
The president has blamed the chaos within his party primarily on liberal megadonors, but senior congressional leaders are reportedly sharing his concerns and urging Biden to back down.
“I’m very frustrated with the elites in my party,” Biden said in a July 8 call with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Manchin’s call is sure to draw backlash from some Democrats, given that he left the party after threatening a third-party presidential bid, and some will note that the West Virginia moderate has frequently stonewalled more progressive elements of Biden’s agenda, such as on climate change.
“Since when has Joe Manchin ever put the interests of Democrats first?” Joyce Alleyne, a former federal prosecutor appointed by then-President Barack Obama, wondered Sunday in a Twitter post on her former Twitter handle, X.
Over the weekend, Democratic Party chairs in seven key battleground states reaffirmed their support for Biden and urged the party to focus on defeating Trump. State leaders said Democrats can win by focusing on “the MAGA threat of anti-abortion, dictatorship and perks for billionaires.”
Reporters Rebecca Morin and Joey Garrison contributed to this story.
