President Joe Biden is facing a revolt from some of his own party’s wealthy donors, including an heiress to the Disney family fortune, who say they will cut off funding to the Democratic Party until Biden withdraws from the presidential race following his disastrous debate performance.
Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Roy O. Disneywho co-founded The Walt Disney Company, said Thursday that she plans to withhold donations to the party she has funded for years until Biden withdraws. The president has said he has no plans to drop out of the race, despite calls to do so.
“I intend to halt all contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high,” Abigail Disney said in a lengthy statement to CNBC. “If Biden does not resign, the Democrats will lose. I am absolutely certain of that. The consequences of losing will be truly dire.”
The Democratic Party at large has been in a panic since Biden struggled to perform in the debate against former President Donald Trump last week. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, called on Biden to withdraw from the race, suggesting that the debate performance proved to voters that the president is incapable of taking on Trump and unable to overcome his gap in the polls.
A New York Times/Sienna College poll after the debate found Biden trailing Trump by 6 percentage points among likely voters.
Representatives for the Biden campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Abigail Disney has long been a supporter of Democrats. She gave $50,000 to the Jane Fonda Climate Political Action Committee in April, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. The PAC has given $35,000 to Democrats running for Congress, according to OpenSecrets data.
Disney gave $150,000 in 2014 to Planned Parenthood Votes, a PAC affiliated with the health care nonprofit, OpenSecrets reports. That PAC has spent more than $400,000 supporting Democrats this election cycle, including $26,000 for Biden.
Disney identified Vice President Kamala Harris as a solid alternative to Biden, claiming she could beat Trump.
“We have an excellent vice president. If Democrats would tolerate her perceived shortcomings, even one-tenth of the shortcomings they’ve tolerated Biden (and let’s not kid ourselves about where race and gender play into that disparity) and if Democrats can find a way to stop nitpicking and rally behind her, we can win this election by a wide margin,” Disney said.
And she’s not the only one putting a hold on donations until Biden leaves office. Moriah Fund President Gideon Stein said he has decided to halt the $3.5 million he had planned to donate to nonprofits and political organizations aligned with the presidential race.
“Joe Biden has been a very effective president, but unless he steps aside, my family and I are pausing more than $3 million in planned giving to nonprofits and political organizations aligned with the presidential race, except for some work at the grassroots level,” Stein said. “Virtually every major donor I’ve spoken to believes we need a new candidate to defeat Donald Trump.”
Karla Jurvetson, a philanthropist and major Democratic donor, indicated in a private donation conversation Tuesday that she agrees with the sentiment to pause donations until Biden leaves office and that she may eventually take such a step, according to a person familiar with her comments. The person was granted anonymity to speak freely about the private conversation.
A spokesman for Jurvetson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Jurvetson is among the top 50 donors nationwide this cycle, donating more than $5 million to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets. She has given more than $200,000 to the Biden Victory Fund this cycle, according to FEC data.
Jurvetson donated more than $30 million to Democrats in 2020, according to records.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
