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Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) became the 5th legislator to telephone connected President Biden to permission the statesmanlike contention connected Sunday, urging the president to beryllium a "uniter" and "pass the torch" to different Democratic candidate.
"I came to determination with a dense bosom that I deliberation it's clip to walk the torch to a caller generation," Manchin told CNN's Jake Tapper connected "State of the Union" connected Sunday.
"I privation him to beryllium the president successful the past 5 months of this presidency of his term, to bash what helium tin bash is unite our country, to calm down the rhetoric and beryllium capable to absorption attraction to bid successful the world," Manchin said. "Campaigning, I've been to statewide campaigns galore times, it's an unbelievable situation to anybody, to anybody physically, mentally, each way, signifier and form. And close now, the state and the satellite needs our President Joe Biden, but the compassion he's ever had and the quality to bring radical unneurotic to usage each of his forces and vigor towards that."
Manchin besides appeared connected ABC's "This Week," telling Martha Raddatz that he's acrophobic astir Biden's quality to spell done with a afloat statesmanlike reelection run contempt assurance successful his quality to lead.
"I deliberation helium has that ability," Manchin told ABC. "You know, it's the full of a campaign... is unbelievable. I tin archer you connected a statewide run -- it's relentless. I tin lone ideate connected a nationalist campaign."
The former Democrat, who near the enactment successful May, besides advocated for an "open process" successful the coming weeks to prime a replacement.
"I deliberation that we person a batch of endowment connected the bench, a batch of bully people," Manchin told CNN, adding that his apical picks see Govs. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) and Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.)
"I've got 2 tremendous governors close adjacent doorway to me, and Andy Beshear successful Kentucky and Josh Shapiro successful Pennsylvania, who are operating with legislators either evenly divided oregon wholly other of their enactment affiliation," helium said. "They haven't divided their state. They haven't made you prime speech and demonize the different side. They brought radical together. This is what an unfastened process would do."
The legislator said an unfastened process and selecting a younger campaigner could promote voters who person grown skeptical of constitution Democrats to instrumentality to the party.
"They person to triumph maine back," helium added.
Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) person besides called connected Biden to permission the race, arsenic person galore House members.
But Biden and his run person remained adamant that the president volition beryllium the Democratic nominee contempt the rising calls from members of the enactment for him to measurement aside.
"Joe Biden has made it much than clear: he's successful this race, and he's successful it to triumph it. Moreover, he's the presumptive nominee, determination is nary program for an alternate nominee," Dan Kanninen, Biden run battleground states director, wrote in a memo released aft the Republican National Convention.
Vice President Kamala Harris is considered a front-runner should Biden measurement aside, a determination which is expected to beryllium reached this week.
The Biden run again doubled down connected the president's committedness to the contention successful a connection to The Hill connected Sunday.
"While the bulk of the Democratic caucus and the divers basal of the enactment continues to basal with the President and his historical grounds of delivering for their communities, we're clear-eyed that the urgency and stakes of beating Donald Trump means others consciousness differently," spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said. "Unlike Republicans, we're a enactment that accepts – and adjacent celebrates – differing opinions, but successful the end, we volition perfectly travel unneurotic to bushed Donald Trump this November."
Story was updated astatine 10:53 a.m. ET
