WASHINGTON – The uproar over President Joe Biden's reelection bid showed no signs of abating Sunday with a fifth senator urging him to withdraw from the race and let Democrats hold an “open process” for a new nominee. The Biden campaign acknowledged “differing opinions” but said the party would unite to defeat Republican Donald Trump.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent who considered a White House run this year and as a Democrat often bucked his party's leadership, was the latest member of Congress to suggest Biden focus on the remaining months of his presidency, even as the 81-year-old incumbent plans a return to campaigning this week after isolating at his Delaware beach home with COVID-19.
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“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 a series of Sunday news show interviews.
Nearly three dozen Democrats in Congress have said it's time for Biden to leave the race. Four Democratic senators — Peter Welch of Vermont, Jon Tester of Montana, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sherrod Brown of Ohio — have said Biden should bow out.
Biden's debate performance raised open questions about his ability to mount a convincing campaign to defeat Trump, but the president's team has made clear that Biden is committed to winning a second term and that the campaign is built to prevail a close election.
“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,” Biden campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said.
Manchin said he was confident that Biden had the capacity to fulfill his term, but the senator was concerned about the toll from a campaign.
“I’m concerned about the president’s health and well-being I really am,” said Manchin, who became an independent in May after decades as a Democrat. He is not seeking reelection to the Senate.
The president's doctor said Sunday that Biden's COVID symptoms have “improved significantly,” and Biden has said he is ready to return to campaign this week and counter a “dark vision” laid out by Trump. Biden has insisted he can defeat Trump in a rematch from 2020 and has been meeting with family and longtime aides as he resist effort to push him aside.
The Biden campaign on Sunday promoted a joint letter from Democratic Party chairs for seven swing states that urged Democrats to unite around the president and to stop focusing on his political weaknesses.
“We understand the anxiety. But the best antidote to political anxiety is taking action. You can’t wring your hands when you’re rolling up your sleeves,” said the chairs for the party in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
Nonetheless, Manchin said Biden should clear the way for other Democrats and spend the remainder of his term as “the president he always wanted to be, be able to unite the country, bring it back together" and focus on the war in Gaza and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The result, Manchin said, would mean being "able to show the rest of the world the orderly transfer of power from the superpower of the world.”
He also said, “I truly believe the Democratic Party needs an open process” in picking a new nominee. Manchin said he was not trying to have Kamala Harris, the vice president, replaced. “A healthy competition is what it’s all about,” Manchin said.
Manchin, himself a former governor, said, “I think that we have a lot of talent on the bench, a lot of good people, and I’m partial to governors, because a governor can’t afford to be partial. They can’t afford to be partisan strictly, because that pothole or that bridge doesn’t have a D or an R on it.”
He mentioned Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Josh Shapiro of of Pennsylvania who, he said, “haven’t divided their state. They haven’t made you pick a side and demonize the other side. They have brought people together. 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.”
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who unsuccessfully challenged Biden in the primary, said he knew that doing so would mean the end of his career in Congress.
“Joe Biden has had an extraordinary career. I cannot come close to what he has done,” Phillips said. “But it is hard to leave this and I recognize that. But he has to. He's got to put this country first.”
But the Democratic National Committee’s rulemaking arm is pressing ahead with plans for a virtual roll call before Aug. 7 to nominate the presidential pick, ahead of the party’s convention later in the month in Chicago.
Some of the president's supporters on the news shows fought back against the calls for him to withdraw. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Biden has a coalition of support that includes African American women, blue-collar workers and older people who voted for him in the primary.
“If he feels bullied out, those voters are going to be feeling that they were bullied out,” Khanna said.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who is credited with helping Biden win his first term, said Democrats should look for ways to coalesce around Biden's candidacy.
“I support Joe Biden. He is still in this race. He will be our nominee if he stays in the race,” Clyburn said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also warned that an effort to replace Biden at the top of the ticket could run into legal challenges after some 14 million people voted for him in Democratic primaries around the country.
“It would be wrong, and I think unlawful, in accordance to some of these states’ rules for a handful of people to go in a back room and switch it out because they don’t like the candidate any longer. That’s not how this is supposed to work," he said.
Manchin was on CNN's “State of the Union,” ABC's “This Week” and CBS' “Face the Nation.” Khanna was on ABC. Johnson was on ABC and CNN. Phillips was on CBS and Clyburn appeared on CNN.
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Superville reported from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.