Report: Biden Fundraisers Halt As July Donations Plummet

Several of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign fundraisers are on hold, multiple Democrat sources involved in the events told Reuters on Friday, even as the Democratic Party planned to accelerate his nomination, and he vowed to continue in the 2024 race.

Biden had planned to raise money in Austin, Texas, Denver and California next week, but those plans have been shelved, at least for now, the sources said. The president tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday but said Friday he would return to the campaign trail next week.

Biden’s campaign said his fundraisers would go ahead as planned.

“Reuters’ sourcing is incorrect, and we look forward to a robust fundraising schedule,” campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said Friday.

A number of big donors are closing their checkbooks amid questions about whether Biden should remain at the top of Democratic Party ticket, the sources said, using their financial clout to tell Biden to drop out of the Nov. 5 race, potentially in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The campaign hoped to raise about $50 million in big-dollar donations in July for the Biden Victory fund but was on track for less than half that as of Friday, according to two sources familiar with the fundraising efforts.

“There are a lot of donors who have said they won’t put another dime in this race. The question is if Biden stays in the race, will they come back?” said one major East Coast campaign financier.

Biden raised $28 million in one night in June at a Hollywood fundraiser that was hosted by George Clooney, who recently urged Biden to end his campaign.

Harris was expected to talk to major donors Friday at the request of advisers to the president, according to a source familiar with the plan.

Fundraising from megadonors was expected to drop from June to July because many were taking vacations, a campaign official told Reuters on Friday.

“This narrative that high-dollar fundraising has dried up is wrong,” the official said.

More than 1 in 10 congressional Democrats have now publicly called on the incumbent to drop out following a disastrous June debate against former President Donald Trump that raised questions about Biden’s ability to win in November and to carry out his duties for another four years.

The Democratic National Convention Rules Committee met Friday to outline a virtual voting process to bring forward the official nomination Biden before the party’s in-person convention starts Aug. 19 in Chicago. Officials argued an early nomination is needed to comply with state election laws or risk being left off the November ballot.

“They’re not risks that we as a party can or should take,” Dana Remus, Biden’s former White House counsel, told the committee.

For a party already divided over Biden, with fresh calls Friday from Democrats in Congress for him to leave, the early virtual vote is another point of controversy.

Critics argue it is a means of pushing Biden through early as the party’s official nominee. Others, including DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, said it is necessary to deal with an Ohio law that could have kept Biden’s name off ballots in the state if he wasn’t nominated by Aug. 7.

A member of the rules committee asked whether it was possible that another candidate could challenge Biden in a virtual vote. Leah Daughtry, the committee’s co-chair, said any challenger would need the “verified support of hundreds of delegates.”

“Such a challenge has never happened over the past half-century of competitive primaries,” Daughtry said.