Democrats increasingly worried about Biden's 'cratering' fundraising: report
President Biden's donor class is drying up in the wake of his disastrous debate performance, with donors refusing to contribute to his flailing campaign.
President Biden's fundraising pool is quickly drying up as more major donors and top Democratic officials continue to call on him to drop out of the race.
Top Democratic officials and operatives who work with the party's major donors say fundraising efforts for Biden are "cratering," according to Politico. Some donors have outright canceled fundraising events, while others have said they will not donate until Biden drops out of the race, the outlet reported.
"This is a massive, massive problem," one of the sources told Politico. "Right now, we should be scaling up, doubling and tripling our goals as we head into the fall. But we’re cratering."
The sources said grassroots fundraising is also being affected by Biden's disastrous debate performance against former President Trump. One person told the outlet they expect small-dollar donations to drop by up to 25% by the end of July.
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Unrest in the donor class echoes Biden's wavering support among Democratic lawmakers. Several Democrats in the House have called on Biden to step aside, and the first Democratic Senator, Peter Welch of Vermont, did the same on Wednesday.
Celebrity actor George Clooney, who held a fundraiser for Biden three weeks ago that brought in over $30 million, also broke with Biden on Wednesday. He said the Biden he saw at the fundraiser was the "same man" that Americans saw at the debate against Trump.
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"It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010," Clooney wrote in a New York Times op-ed. "He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
"We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly," Clooney continued.
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Liberal celebrities in Hollywood were quick to follow Clooney's defection on Wednesday.
"I think it’s a valid point," Michael Douglas reacted to Clooney's essay on Wednesday's installment of "The View."
"I’m deeply, deeply concerned. I mean, especially – it’s difficult because the Democrats have a big bench. They’ve got a lot of heavy hitters," Douglas said before suggesting Biden was ill-advised ahead of last month's presidential debate.
Actress Mia Farrow similarly warned in a post on X that it's "time to pass the torch" or "we will lose the Senate, the House and our Democracy."
"Ill [sic] vote for Joe if he declines to step down. Of course. But he is losing," Farrow said. "We cannot EVER give our country to Trump."
Fox News' Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.