Ex-Democrat Calls on Biden to Leave Race

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat turned independent, urged President Biden on Sunday to drop his reelection bid and focus on the remaining months of his presidency. "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 on CNN's State of the Union, per the AP. Leaving the race now would let Biden focus on goals such as ending the fighting in Gaza and helping Ukraine defeat the Russian invasion, the West Virginia senator said, per ABC News. He also referred to big donors' support evaporating.

Manchin left the party in May but caucuses with Senate Democrats, per NBC News. He's serving out his final term. Four Democratic senators have called on the president to let someone else run against Donald Trump: Peter Welch of Vermont, Jon Tester of Montana, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Biden, Manchin said, "will go down with a legacy unlike many people, as one of the finest and truly a [patriotic] American."

(More Joe Manchin stories.)