Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain on Sunday dismissed the possibility that President Biden will lose the support of “big donors,” insisting they won’t throw him out of the race following his poor performance in last week’s debate.
Klain served as Biden’s top adviser from his inauguration in 2021 until January 2023. He told the New York Times It was 100 percent certain that Biden would continue the campaign.
“He’s the choice of Democratic voters,” Klain was quoted as saying. “He has record support from grassroots donors. He had a disastrous debate night. But he’s going to fight through the odds and win the election.”
Klain, who organized the presidential debates last week, argued that while the 2019 primary debates didn’t go well, they couldn’t stop Biden from winning the White House.
“Big donors don’t get to decide the Democratic nominee,” Klain told The Times.
Biden has faced calls from within his own Democratic Party to step aside and install another candidate as the party’s nominee, but national officials have not yet joined those calls.
Biden’s debate performance appeared to raise alarm bells among Democratic donors in New York, Southern California and Silicon Valley, who had privately expressed concerns about Biden’s reelection viability, according to the Associated Press.
Through text message exchanges and private conversations, donors discussed a short list of potential successors, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris, the news agency added.
Two days after the debate, Biden tried to appeal to donors at a weekend fundraiser in New Jersey.
“Tonight was not a good night, but we’re going to fight harder,” Biden told attendees at the home of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Saturday. “Donald Trump is a real threat to the nation.”
Because Biden has already won the primary, he cannot be replaced at the convention unless he agrees to step down.
The New York Times, citing a person with knowledge of family discussions at Camp David this weekend, reported that some family members, including Biden’s son Hunter Biden, are pressuring him to continue in the campaign.
The White House and Biden have said they have no plans to withdraw from the race.
