US Senator Joe Manchin on Sunday called on Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, increasing pressure for him to step down.
Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat and independent, said Sunday it was time for Biden to “pass the baton to a new generation.” Manchin said stepping down from the race would allow Biden to focus on issues that are important to the president, such as helping Ukraine thwart Russian aggression and ending Israel’s war on Gaza.
“He is different from many others, the most excellent and true [patriotic] “He’s an American,” Manchin said, “and so I think with a heavy heart that it’s time for him to pass the baton to a new generation.” He said During an interview on ABC’s This Week.
Before Manchin’s comments Sunday, four Democratic senators had called on Biden to drop out of the race. More than 30 Democrats have called for Biden to halt his reelection campaign, citing concerns about his age, mental capacity and chances of reelection. The panic began after Biden’s disastrous performance in a June 27 debate with Donald Trump.
While Manchin’s comments won’t help the president’s standing, it’s unclear how much of an impact they will have on him, if any at all. Manchin is not seeking reelection and has thwarted many of Biden and other Democrats’ most ambitious plans for their first term.
Biden, who contracted COVID-19 and was isolating at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Sunday, has so far refused to step down, and campaign aides have strongly suggested he will continue to campaign. According to The New York Times, after all that hard work, Biden is open to the possibility that he may have to withdraw from the race. Reported last week.
Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also appeared. As a key figure in the Democratic Party Pelosi urged Biden to drop out of the race out of concern that doing so could hurt the party’s chances of winning House elections this fall. In a speech to North Carolina Democrats on Saturday, Pelosi barely mentioned Biden’s candidacy. “Are you ready for a Democratic president?” she asked at the end of her speech. According to the Associated PressHe did not directly mention Biden.
Biden has remained relatively quiet since testing positive for COVID-19 last week. On Sunday, his official Twitter account Tweet sent “I will continue to speak out forcefully for our democracy, defend our Constitution and the rule of law, and call for action at the ballot box, not violence in the streets.”
“This is how democracy should be.”
It’s unclear whether the pressure is working: Biden remains frustrated that former President Barack Obama and other Democrats encouraged him not to run in 2016, the year Trump won the White House. Axios reported Sunday. And the effort to push him away again may just be making him even more hardened.
Biden’s campaign on Sunday Highlighted text Democratic Party chairs in seven key battleground states — Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia — urged Democrats to support the president.
“We know, from President Biden to the Vice President, that Democrats can and will win this election. [Kamala] “Ms. Harris is competing in close races from state legislative races to school board races,” the letter said. “A key ingredient depends on all of us: focus.”
“I understand the fears, but the best cure for political unrest is action. We can’t sit back and do nothing while we roll up our sleeves.”
Ann ABC News/Ipsos Poll According to a poll released Sunday, 60% of Democrats believe Biden should not run for president, but 58% said they would be satisfied if Biden became the nominee. Overall, only about a third of Americans said they would be satisfied if Biden became the nominee.
It is unclear whether Biden would support Harris as his successor if he steps down. Some Democrats, including Pelosi, believe some sort of competitive nomination process would bolster the credibility of whoever is ultimately nominated because voters would not see it as a backroom deal.
According to an ABC News/Ipsos poll, about three-quarters of Democrats said they would be satisfied if Harris were the nominee. report Major Democratic donors are reportedly funding the selection effort for a running mate if Biden drops out of the race and Harris emerges as Biden’s replacement in November.
Meanwhile, the same poll found that Trump’s favorability ratings have risen since a gunman tried to assassinate him at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13. The poll found that 40% of Americans have a favorable view of Trump, the highest favorability rating the former president has received since ABC News/Ipsos began asking about favorability ratings in August 2020. In contrast, 32% of Americans have a favorable view of Biden.
After newsletter promotion
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a key Biden ally, said on Saturday Democratic colleagues will come together ahead of their party convention in August.
“We’re not unanimous in our support of the president, but we are certainly united in our support,” he said in an interview on MSNBC on Saturday. “I’ve never seen a successful November convention in the modern era. It never has been and I don’t think it ever will be.”
The Trump campaign reportedly wants Biden to remain in the race. How to Attack Harris The New York Times reported that Biden would step down if she became the nominee. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, tweeted on Sunday that if Biden quits the campaign, the president should step down too. He also attacked Harris. At the first meeting On the trail on Saturday.
If Joe Biden ends his reelection campaign, how can he justify staying in the presidency?
Not running for reelection would be a clear admission that President Trump was correct all along that Biden was not mentally qualified to be commander in chief.
There is no middle ground.
— JD Vance (@JDVance1) July 21, 2024
“}}”>
If Joe Biden ends his reelection campaign, how can he justify staying in the presidency?
Not running for reelection would be a clear admission that President Trump was correct all along that Biden was not mentally qualified to be commander in chief.
There is no middle ground.
— JD Vance (@JDVance1) July 21, 2024
House Speaker Mike Johnson, during a talk show appearance Sunday, said Republicans would take legal action if Democrats try to remove Biden from the ballot.
“Each state has its own system, and in some of them you can’t just replace the candidate,” he told ABC’s “This Week.” “It’s wrong, and I think illegal under some state rules, for a few people to just switch candidates behind closed doors because they don’t like the candidate anymore. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work.”
CNN trade union status, Johnson denied that Republicans were trying to block voters from voting for their party’s nominee.
Republicans strongly opposed legal efforts earlier this year to disqualify Trump from voting because of the role his supporters played in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately blocked those efforts and allowed Trump to stand trial.
Johnson said it was an “apples and oranges comparison.” “What they’re trying to do is a small number of people in the party, including the top elected Democrat in the country, are trying to get rid of Joe Biden,” he said.
Johnson did not specify what agenda the party would bring, but Experts They will fail.
The debate over Biden’s future comes as the Republican Party posts strong fundraising numbers. Reported at $102 million According to the Washington Post, the cash balance at the end of June was nearly double what it was at the end of May. The Democratic National Committee reported it had $78 million in cash at the end of June.
