US President Joe Biden stepped up his re-election campaign this week despite several major donors threatening to withhold funding. The developments came as top Democrats held an emergency meeting to discuss their presidential nominee and European countries sought the protection of the NATO alliance. The octogenarian lawmaker returned to campaigning on Sunday amid an increasingly unkind spotlight.
“I don’t want to make any contributions to the party until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. That’s realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are too high. The Democrats will lose if Biden doesn’t leave office. I’m certain of that. The consequences of defeat would be truly dire,” Abigail Disney told CNBC.
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings echoed that sentiment, telling The New York Times that Biden should step aside and give a “vigorous Democratic leader” a chance to defeat Donald Trump. The business leader and his wife have donated more than $20 million to the party in recent years.
“I deeply respect Joe Biden’s lifetime service to our country. But at this critical time, in this important election, it’s the right and honorable thing for President Biden to do to take a step back,” said Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso.
The former L.A. mayoral candidate — a Democratic donor who co-hosted a multimillion-dollar fundraiser for Biden in December — said in an interview Saturday that he would pause efforts until he got more clarity on the situation.
So far, five Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to step down as the voices of dissent slowly grow. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was to lead a virtual meeting of senior Democrat representatives on Sunday to discuss the best way forward. According to reports, Democrat Senator Mark Warner is also working to organize a similar forum in the upper house.
