The financial-world figures and donors, from the Beltway to Hollywood, asking Joe Biden to step aside
07/12/2024 19:08Here's a running list of those asking Joe Biden to step aside, including many of his erstwhile allies in the financial world.
The number of calls for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race has increased nearly every day since his politically calamitous debate performance on June 28.
The list includes business-world figures from former top Big Tech CEOs to Democratic lawmakers as well as Hollywood celebrities who had previously supported and financially backed the President's run for a second term.
The most prominent donor voice yet to call for Biden to step aside is George Clooney. The actor has helped put millions into Biden's coffers, but recently said in a New York Times essay he has witnessed Biden’s decline. The President, he added, isn’t "even the Joe Biden of 2020."
The challenges for Biden's campaign were underscored once again Thursday. Despite an overall strong performance that allayed some fears, President Biden ended a NATO summit with multiple verbal miscues
At one point he introduced President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as “President Putin” before quickly correcting himself. He followed that with a press conference where he effectively parried questions for nearly an hour on his age and other topics—but also misspoke again and at one point called Kamala Harris, “Vice President Trump.”
Both flubs—fairly or not—quickly took on an outsized importance and trended on social media and bounced among the worried networks of Biden’s supporters mulling a break with the President.
All told, as of Friday morning, at least 18 Democratic lawmakers as well as numerous other prominent figures inside and outside of Washington have called on Biden to step aside. One the other side, at least 4 dozen Democratic lawmakers and governors have offered supportive statements for Biden with others expressing concern about his ability to win, but not yet calling on him to withdraw.
Whether the list grows in the coming days remains to be seen, but here’s the current tally of who is calling on Biden to step aside.
Major Donors
The Clooney announcement highlighted the role of two key groups who at the moment are providing defectors from Biden’s reelection campaign: Hollywood celebrities and major democratic donors.
Clooney is both. The Oscar winner recently help organized a gala fundraiser for Biden that netted over $30 million for the President’s campaign. It was at that event that Clooney says he saw in Biden "the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
Other bold-faced names and longtime Democratic donors have also weighed in from Netflix (NFLX) co-founder Reed Hastings to director Rob Reiner to novelist Stephen King
Another powerful Hollywood figure asking Biden to drop out is screenwriter Damon Lindelof. He made an extended argument for Biden leaving the race in a recent Deadline essay saying “I am not writing this anonymously because I’m asking others in positions of influence to do the same.”
Abigail Disney, granddaughter of the Disney (DIS) founder, said she will withhold further donations until Biden drops out.
Former Paypal and Intuit (INTU) CEO Bill Harris is even, according to the Washington Post, calling for Biden to step aside and organizing a small group of Democratic donors to fund a "mini primary"—complete with debates—if President Biden makes that decision.
Despite the uproar, other Biden mega-donors are staying put. For now. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has given Biden-allied groups over 9 million dollars so far this campaign. He has repeatedly offered supportive words. But even he acknowledges that some his colleagues appear to be pulling away from Biden
“Silicon Valley, maybe even more vigorously than most places in the world, tends to focus on leaders,” he said in a Wired interview before defending both Biden's acuity as well as the team around him.
The overall effect on Biden's fundraising won't fully be known for weeks. Biden and his team counter the narrative of mega-donor fundraising woes by saying Biden raised $33 million in the days after the debate, much of it from grassroots supporters.
Still, more recent reports suggest fundraising has slowed.
Finance-minded members of Congress
Biden has also been losing the support of Democratic lawmakers central to economic policy— with strong ties to the business world.
Perhaps most closely watched: the former House Speaker, Rep.Nancy Pelosi, who offered a widely noted assessment on MSNBC Wednesday—seen as a signal to donors and fellow Democrats looking to break with Biden. She said "it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short."
Others have been more direct.
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who began his career at Goldman Sachs (GS), said in a statement just after the NATO conference that “we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism. I no longer believe that is Joe Biden."
Himes remains closely involved in economic issues and serves on the House Financial Services committee.
Another finance-minded lawmaker who also announced he wants Biden out after the NATO conference was Rep. Scott Peters of California. A member of two key committees — Energy and Commerce as well the Budget Committee — Peters has been endorsed previously by the Chamber of Commerce.
Julián Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development secretary, called on Biden to drop out of the race quickly after the debate and reiterated his critique Thursday after Biden’s NATO events.
Sherrod Brown is the chair of the Senate’s powerful Banking committee. He has generally dodged questions on Biden in recent days but reportedly has told colleagues he doesn’t believe Biden can win the election.
This post was updated on July 12.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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