NY.– After several days of silence and hopes that President Biden will abandon his re-election campaign on his own, many wealthy Democratic donors are trying to take matters into their own hands.
Using their fortunes as leverage, donors have designed a series of initiatives to pressure Biden to drop out of the race and pave the way for an alternative candidate.
The efforts — some coordinated, some conflicting and some emerging — expose a notable and growing clash between the party’s contributing class and its standard-bearer that could impact which candidates will also be on the ballot, whether or not donors influence Biden’s decision.
The president on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to staying in the race amid criticism for his weak performance in last week’s debate.
But he has failed to appease donors and strategists who worry he may not win in November.
A group of them is working to raise about $100 million for a kind of fund, called the Next Generation PAC, that could be used to support the replacement candidate.
If Biden does not drop out, that money could be used to help other candidates on the ballot, according to people familiar with the effort.
Supporters of potential replacements are rooting for Vice President Kamala Harris and are trying to position their preferred successor.
Other donors are threatening to withhold contributions not only to Biden but also to other Democratic groups unless Biden steps aside.
Abigail E Disney, a filmmaker and heiress to the Disney fortune, said in an email that the Biden campaign and committees supporting it “will not receive a penny from me until Biden is replaced,” said Disney, who is a major Democratic donor, adding “Biden is a good man who has served our country well, but the bar is set too high to allow timidity to determine our course of action.”
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