Wealthy Democratic donors are reportedly considering ways to force President Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, including boycotting future donations to the party.
The dam has already started to break, Disney heiress Abigail Disney told CNBC on Thursday. She plans to stop all donations As long as Biden, 81, remains a presidential candidate.
“This is reality and no disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served our country well, but the stakes are too high,” the longtime Democrat said in a statement to the outlet.
“If Biden doesn’t step down, the Democrats will lose. I’m absolutely certain of that. The consequences of a defeat would be truly devastating.”
Biden’s dismal performance against his opponent, former President Donald Trump (78), in the June 27 debate sent shockwaves of panic across the Democratic Party about whether he would be able to serve another term in office.
The New York Times/Siena College after the debate vote The incumbent president was found to be trailing his Republican opponent by six points among eligible voters.
But since his disastrous debate defeat, Biden has vowed to continue the campaign, much to the surprise of some of his most vocal supporters.
Earlier this week, philanthropist Carla Jurvetson, who donated more than $200,000 to the Biden Victory Fund during this election cycle, reportedly said in a private conference call with donors that she agreed with rumors that she would stop giving until Biden was removed from the Democratic Party’s running mate, and suggested she might turn off the funding taps herself. CNBC.
Jurvetson donated more than $30 million to Democrats in 2020 alone.
One growing concern among Democratic donors is the impact Biden could have in lower-level elections in November. The New York Times report.
That has prompted wealthy supporters, who in a normal election cycle would reliably donate to Democrats and their favored causes, to come up with alternatives.
One group is seeking to raise as much as $100 million to form an escrow fund-like pool of money called “Next Generation PAC” aimed at supporting candidates to replace Biden if he leaves office.
Without that, the fund could be used to support lower-ranking candidates whose chances of winning would likely be hurt by Trump running.
Some donors have threatened to withhold donations to Democratic organizations altogether unless Trump drops out of the election.
Gideon Stein, an avid donor with key connections in Democratic political circles, told the outlet that if Biden remains the nominee, the family would put the brakes on plans to donate about $3.5 million to various nonprofits and political groups.
He said nearly every other major donor he’d spoken to in recent days had echoed the sentiment that “the best way to beat Donald Trump is to have a new candidate.”
Other donors, the outlet said, didn’t want to be seen as involved in a “big-money coup” against a sitting Democratic president, so they continued to hold their noses and write checks.
“We have to keep funding this machine,” said Andrew E. Beck III, a former finance executive who has donated more than $100,000 to the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
