(WASHINGTON) Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday urged President Joe Biden to drop his re-election bid and focus on the final months of his presidency.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to pass the torch to a new generation,” the West Virginia lawmaker said on the show. State of the Union on CNN.
Nearly three dozen Democrats in Congress, Mr. They said it was time for Biden to drop out of the race. Four Democratic senators — Peter Welch (Vermont), Jon Tester (Montana), Martin Heinrich (New Mexico) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio) — said the Democratic president should drop his re-election campaign against Republican Donald Trump.
Joe Biden’s debate show raised open questions about the 81-year-old’s ability to mount a convincing campaign to defeat Donald Trump.
“I worry about the president’s health and well-being, I really do,” Mr. Manchin said on the show. This week From ABC channel.
Photo by Susan Walsh, Archies Associated Press
US President Joe Biden walks to his car at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware after testing positive for Covid-19 on July 17, 2024.
With the president self-isolating at his Delaware Beach home after testing positive for COVID-19, he said he was ready to return to the campaign trail this week and face the “dark vision” Trump outlined. Mr. Biden, Mr. He insisted he could defeat Trump and met with his family and longtime aides to oppose efforts to sideline him.
However, Mr. Manchin, Mr. He said Biden should lead the way for other Democrats and spend the rest of his term “being the president he always wanted to be and be able to unify the country, bring it together and spend all of his time on solutions.” Gaza’s Troubles, to bring peace to Gaza and the Middle East. He could spend his time defending and winning Ukraine’s independence, then show the rest of the world an orderly transfer of power from a world superpower. »
“I believe the Democratic Party needs an open process to choose a new nominee,” he said. Mr. Manchin clarified that he was not trying to replace Vice President Kamala Harris. “That’s what healthy competition is about,” Mr. Manchin said.
But the Democratic National Committee’s rulemaking body is pushing ahead with plans for a virtual roll call before Aug. 7 to select a presidential nominee, ahead of the party’s convention in Chicago later this month.
Manchin, a longtime Democrat who became an independent in May, is not seeking re-election to the Senate.