Democrat turned independent Joe Manchin said Sunday that it’s time for Joe Biden to “pass the torch to a new generation” — but probably not to Kamala Harris.
Appearing on “Face the Nation,” Manchin said Democrats need to have an “open process” to select their next leader, and he offered two picks of his own: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Both are white men.
Margaret Brennan started in: “But Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party. If you bypass the vice president, Kamala Harris, doesn’t that undermine—”
Manchin cut her off: “This isn’t about race and gender, Margaret.”
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Pressed on whether he would support Harris if she became the nominee, Manchin said: “Well, it depends on what the policies are. I want to see the platform change.”
Manchin became the fifth senator to call on Biden to drop out — joining Peter Welch, Jon Tester, Martin Heinrich and Sherrod Brown, as well as nearly three dozen House members.
Rep. Gwen Moore said Sunday that she’s concerned by the “racial divide with regard to who thinks we ought to stick with Biden and who thinks we ought to have an open convention.”
Appearing on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” Moore said: “There doesn’t seem to be any commitment to make sure that Kamala is at the top of the ticket. There are people who would like to displace the whole ticket.”
Beyond representing key voting blocs in the party, Harris is seen as the right choice by many Democrats because she is the only one who can easily take on the campaign money earned under Biden.
The latest House defector, Rep. Mark Takano, went further than most Saturday, specifically calling on Biden to “pass the torch” to Harris. “It has become clear to me that the demands of a modern campaign are now best met by the Vice President, who can seamlessly transition into the role of our party’s standard bearer,” Takano said in a statement.
When they weren’t arguing over what’s next, Democrats spent a lot of time over the weekend hedging their bets — at least in public.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has reportedly expressed private concerns about Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump, addressed more than 900 people at a North Carolina Democratic Party fundraiser on Saturday. While she touted Biden-Harris administration policies in the state the campaign is making a pronounced effort to win, Pelosi did not mention Biden’s reelection bid.
“Are you ready for a great Democratic victory?” Pelosi said to a cheering crowd. “I thought so.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, a staunch Biden defender, spoke against calls to oust the president on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday. “One of the things we underestimate is that Joe Biden actually has a coalition of African American women, blue-collar workers, seniors, who voted for him,” Khanna said. “If he feels bullied out, those voters are going to feel like they were bullied out.”
But like Manchin and Moore, Khanna then engaged in extended speculation about what would happen if Biden does decide to pull out.
And Rep. Jim Clyburn, the Democrat who may be most responsible for Biden’s win in 2020, said the president will be his party’s nominee “if he stays in the race.”
“I have been asked, ‘What will it take for you to change your mind?’” Clyburn said in a CNN interview. “It will take [Biden] changing his mind. If he were to change his mind, then I’ll change mine.”
Thus far, the president has said that his mind is made up, and he’s giving all indications of pushing through despite the questions swirling around him. His physician reported Saturday that Biden is still experiencing a cough and hoarseness, but that his [COVID-19] symptoms continue to improve steadily.”
“The President continues to tolerate treatment well and will continue PAXLOVID as planned,” the doctor wrote. “He continues to perform all of his presidential duties.”
Biden received two virtual briefings on Saturday on the state of the economy and homeland security issues, the White House said.
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Calen Razor is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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