Manchin calls on Biden to withdraw from race

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) said on Sunday he believes it is time for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race, after previously saying he supported him in the race.

“I came to the decision with a heavy heart that I think it's time to pass the torch to a new generation,” Manchin said in an interview with host Jake Tapper on CNN’s "State of the Union." He also called on Biden to step down on ABC’s “This Week,” using very similar phrasing.

"He will go down with a legacy unlike many people, as one of the finest and truly a patriot American," Manchin said on "This Week." "So with that I come with a heavy heart to think the time has come for him to pass the torch to a new generation."

Manchin’s call to withdraw comes after Democratic senators in swing states, such as Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, have made the same plea. He is now the fifth senator to call on Biden to not seek reelection.

The president has reiterated that he does not plan to leave the ticket.

"While the majority of the Democratic caucus and the diverse base of the party continues to stand with the President and his historic record of delivering for their communities, we’re clear-eyed that the urgency and stakes of beating Donald Trump means others feel differently. We all share the same goal: an America where everyone gets a fair shot and freedom and democracy are protected," Biden campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement. "Unlike Republicans, we’re a party that accepts —and even celebrates — differing opinions, but in the end, we will absolutely come together to beat Donald Trump this November."

Manchin, who was elected as a Democrat but became an independent on May 31, also supported an open primary process for Democrats as the next step if Biden were to step down. He did not name Vice President Kamala Harris, but said there is “a lot of talent on the bench," and the former West Virginia governor said he is “partial to governors.”

“A governor can't afford to be partial, they can't afford to be partisan, strictly because that pothole or that bridges doesn’t have a D or an R on it,” Manchin said. “I've got two tremendous governors right next door to me, Andy Beshear in Kentucky and Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, who are operating with legislatures either evenly split or completely opposite of their party affiliation. They haven't divided their state.”

He added, “This is what an open process would do. I think it would bring more people out in a process that could bring Democrats like me back.”

Manchin said he didn’t know what that open process would look like considering there are only three weeks until the Democratic National Convention, but that once they get to the convention, everything will change. He also ruled out a presidential run for himself, saying he would rather support a “new generation.”

“People keep talking about race and gender — it’s not about race and gender, it's about positions, it's about basically who we are,” Manchin said. “I left the Democrat Party because it's not the Democratic Party that I grew up in, that I always knew.”

The independent senator, who has had his own disagreements with the president over the past four years, said he wants Biden to stay in the presidency through November.

He specifically said in five months Biden could “help heal this nation” and "bring the world together" — and that the president should be solely focused on that.

“That takes a full-time 24/7 president not being worried about where you got to go campaign, got to give a speech, got to go out, raise money,” Manchin said. “And I think his legacy will be one of the greatest legacies of any of our leaders.”

Manchin added that as someone who has been through statewide campaigns, it is challenging “to anybody physically, mentally, every way, shape and form.”

“Right now, the country and the world needs our President Joe Biden with a compassion he’s always had and the ability to bring people together, to use all of his forces and energy toward that," Manchin said.