Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Former Dem House Leader Claims Moderate Group Would ‘Siphon Votes’ From Biden

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Former House Majority Leader  Richard Gephardt of Missouri claimed Monday that a third-party ticket from “No Labels” would “siphon votes” from President Joe Biden.

Biden announced his reelection bid April 25 with a video posted to social media, and faces challenges from guru Marianne Williamson and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Democratic primary. A Yahoo/YouGov poll conducted Feb 23-27 revealed that 48% of Democrats did not want Biden to run for a second term due to his age.

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“So the No Labels effort you just know from looking at all the polling information, including No Labels polling, would siphon so many votes away from Joe Biden and take them to Trump if those are the two candidates,” Gephardt, who also served as House Minority Leader, told “America’s Newsroom” co-hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer. “That’s what it looks like. So this is not a good effort, this is a risky effort.”

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and former Republican Gov. John Huntsman of Utah headlined a No Labels event Monday, during which Manchin dodged a question about being the candidate on a No Labels ticket.

“The American people decide on who the candidate in the Republican Party will be and who the candidate in the Democratic Party will be,” Gephardt said. “I don’t know who is going to pick the No Labels candidate. They are talking about giving people a choice. I don’t know how that is a choice.”

Liberals have fretted that a Manchin third-party run could hand the 2024 election to Donald Trump. Manchin declined to endorse Biden for reelection in July 2022 while on a podcast with Chris Cuomo.