Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat turned independent, is urging Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat turned independent, on Sunday urged President Joe Biden to abandon his re-election bid and focus on the remaining months of his presidency.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have decided it is time to pass the torch to a new generation,” the West Virginia lawmaker told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

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 the Democratic president should end his reelection campaign against Republican Donald Trump.

Biden’s performance at the debate raised open questions about the 81-year-old’s ability to mount a compelling campaign to defeat Trump.

“I am truly concerned about the health and well-being of the president,” Manchin said on ABC’s “This Week.”

But as the president remains isolated at his Delaware beach house after being diagnosed with COVID-19, he has said he is ready to return to the campaign trail this week and counter a “dark vision” from Trump. Biden has insisted he can beat Trump in a 2020 rematch and has met with family and longtime aides as he resists efforts to oust him.

Still, Manchin said Biden should pave the way for other Democrats and spend the rest of his term as “the president he always wanted to be, able to unite the country, to bring it back together, to be able to spend perhaps all of his time solving the problems in Gaza, bringing peace to Gaza and to the Middle East. Also able to spend his time enforcing, strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend and win their freedom, and then being able to show the rest of the world the orderly transition of power from the world’s superpower.”

He also said, “I really believe the Democratic Party needs an open process” in choosing a new nominee. Manchin said he was not trying to replace Kamala Harris, the vice president. “Healthy competition is what it’s all about,” Manchin said.

However, the Democratic National Committee’s regulatory arm is moving ahead with plans for a virtual call to nominate the presidential candidate by Aug. 7, ahead of the party’s convention later that month in Chicago.

Manchin, who became an independent in May after years as a Democrat, will not seek re-election to the Senate

The Associated Press