Yahoo Finance Biden supporters, from the Beltway to Hollywood to Wall Street, are still asking the president to step aside
The calls for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race have steadily grown in the three weeks since his politically calamitous debate performance on June 27.
There was a brief hiatus after an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on June 13 and during the early days of the Republican National Convention. But as the convention began to wind down, a new wave of prominent Democratic voices called for the president to step aside.
The growing list includes business world figures from former top Big Tech CEOs to Hollywood celebrities who had previously supported, and financially backed, the president's run for a second term.
It also includes lawmakers central to Washington's financial debates.
Jon Tester is a member of the Senate's Banking Committee and is also locked in a tight reelection campaign in his home state of Montana. He called on Biden to step aside Thursday with a statement that read, in part, "Montanans have put their trust in me to do what is right and it is a responsibility I take seriously." Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, among others, also wants a change.
Meanwhile, Biden said in a statement on Friday that he'll be back on the campaign trail next week. His campaign chief said on MSNBC's Morning Joe that Biden is "not going anywhere."
To date, the most prominent donor voice to call for Biden to step aside is George Clooney. The actor has helped put millions into Biden's campaign 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."
Another finance world figure — and a former Chuck Schumer insider — appeared on Yahoo Finance recently to make the case Biden should withdraw.
"I would tell him to step down so he doesn't have to withdraw," Tusk Venture Partners founder and CEO Bradley Tusk said on the Opening Bid podcast, adding that Biden’s odds of winning are now "very, very low."
The challenges for Biden's campaign appear to be steepening. A parade of top Democrats in recent days, according to multiple reports, have expressed concerns to Biden in private about his candidacy.
That list incudes top figures like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
All told, as of Friday afternoon, 32 sitting Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on Biden to step aside, according to a New York Times tracker of statements.
On the other side, dozens of 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.
Here’s a current tally of who is calling for a change atop the Democratic ticket.
Major donors
The Clooney announcement on July 10 highlighted the role of two key groups defecting from Biden’s reelection campaign: Hollywood celebrities and major Democratic donors.
Clooney is both. The Oscar winner recently helped organize a gala fundraiser for Biden that netted over $30 million for the president’s campaign. It was at that event that Clooney said he saw in Biden "the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
Other big names and longtime Democratic donors have also weighed in, from Netflix (NFLX) co-founder Reed Hastings to director Rob Reiner to novelist Stephen King.
Jeffrey Katzenberg is one of Biden's most powerful donors and, according to a Deadline Report, spoke with Biden this Wednesday to tell him that donations are drying up but not calling on him to drop out.
Another powerful Hollywood figure asking Biden to leave the race is screenwriter Damon Lindelof. He made an extended argument 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 would withhold further donations until Biden drops out. Another blow to Biden’s fundraising came last week when a group of major Democratic donors told the largest pro-Biden super-PAC they were freezing roughly $90 million in pledged donations, per the New York Times.
Former Paypal and Intuit (INTU) CEO Bill Harris, according to the Washington Post, is even calling for Biden to step aside and is organizing a small group of Democratic donors to fund a "mini primary" — complete with debates — if President Biden makes that decision.
Despite the uproar, some other Biden mega-donors are staying put, for now. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has given Biden-allied groups over $9 million so far this campaign. He has repeatedly offered supportive words. But even he acknowledged that some of 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 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 grassroots donations have slowed, as well as those from mega-donors.
Finance-minded members of Congress
Biden has also been losing the support of Democratic lawmakers with strong ties to the business world.
Three sitting Democratic US senators — Tester of Montana, Heinrich of New Mexico, and Peter Welch of Vermont — have now asked Biden to withdraw.
Rep. Adam Schiff, who is expected to become California’s next senator and is a close ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told the Los Angeles Times, “I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who began his career at Goldman Sachs, said in a statement last week 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.
Two additional Financial Services committee members have asked Biden to withdraw. Freshman Rep. Brittany Pettersen joined the calls last week asking Biden to “pass the torch.” Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois added his voice on July 19, saying he had a "heavy heart."
Another finance-minded lawmaker who has announced he wants Biden out is Rep. Scott Peters of California. A member of two key committees — Energy and Commerce as well as the Budget Committee — Peters has been endorsed previously by the Chamber of Commerce.
This post was updated on July 19.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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