House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held a private meeting with Joe Biden on Thursday. These discussions have revealed significant anxiety among Democrats about the party’s direction and leadership under Joe Biden, particularly following his recent national performances.
Adding to the party’s troubles, a major financial rebellion is now threatening Biden’s reelection campaign. Prominent Democrat donors have expressed their dissatisfaction by freezing approximately $90 million in pledges to the leading pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward.
According to insiders who spoke to The New York Times, this includes several commitments in the eight-figure range. The donors, who chose to remain anonymous, voiced their concerns after Biden’s disastrous debate performance late last month.
Watch:
🚨BREAKING: Major Democrat donors to the largest pro-Biden super PAC have frozen $90 million in pledged donations, per the NYT, until Joe Biden steps down. Reports say a "coordinated Democrat rebellion" will be underway over the next 48 hours. pic.twitter.com/4e4aWmaHOj
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 12, 2024
The New York Times reported:
Future Forward declined to comment on any conversations with donors or the amounts of any pledged money being withheld. A Future Forward adviser would say only that the group expected contributors who had paused donations to return once the current uncertainty about the ticket was resolved.
Separately, one donor to the group described being approached multiple times by Future Forward since the debate for a contribution, but said he and his friends had been “holding off.”
The two people briefed on the frozen pledges declined to say which individual donors were pulling back promised checks, which were estimated to total around or above $90 million. It was not clear how much of the pledged money was earmarked for Future Forward’s super PAC versus its nonprofit arm, which has also been running advertising in key battleground states. The super PAC has been shying away from making major strategic decisions until it gets clarity on who will be atop the ticket, according to a separate person close to the group.
The cash freeze comes as some advisers around Mr. Biden are discussing how to persuade the president to exit the race, and as his campaign has begun to test Vice President Kamala Harris in head-to-head surveys of voters against former President Donald J. Trump. The number of congressional Democrats calling for Mr. Biden to step aside is growing by the day.
NEWS: Donors Tell Pro-Biden Super PAC Roughly $90 Million in Pledges Is Frozenhttps://t.co/OxrOwvq5MJ
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) July 12, 2024
The report comes amid reports that “dozens” of congressional Democrats are preparing to issue public statements urging Joe Biden to drop out of the race.
Four Democratic sources tell CBS News that they expect dozens of Democratic lawmakers over the next 48 hours to issue statements calling for President Biden to step out of the race, @margbrennan reportshttps://t.co/0u4LADwZQZ
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) July 11, 2024
