Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix and mega-donor to the Democratic Party, has called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race after his disastrous performance in last week’s debate against Donald Trump.
Hastings told The New York Times on Wednesday that the president “must step aside to allow a strong Democratic leader to defeat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.”
With the statement, Hastings is one of the first major Democratic donors to speak out as pressure mounts for the 81-year-old president to step down amid concerns he is unfit for office.
The White House has denied reports that donors and allies within the Democratic Party pressured him to withdraw from the presidential race.
But on Wednesday, two House Democrats openly called for Biden to withdraw his candidacy, and a third said he had “serious concerns” about Biden’s ability to defeat Trump. Biden is under mounting pressure, as a post-debate poll showed one in three Democrats says he should resign. At a campaign event earlier this week, Biden blamed his poor debate performance on his busy international travel leading up to the event, saying he “nearly fell asleep on stage.”
According to multiple sources, some Democratic Party officials have privately suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris should take his place.
Related: Kamala Harris: Insiders Back VP to Replace Biden as Democratic Nominee
Hastings, a billionaire entrepreneur credited with ushering in the streaming era, stepped down as CEO of Netflix last year.
Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, were ardent supporters of the Democratic Party during the Trump administration and have donated more than $20 million in recent years, including about $1.5 million to Biden during his 2020 campaign, according to the New York Times. The couple donated $100,000 to Biden’s re-election campaign last year.
Hastings has also donated to historically black colleges and universities and recently donated more than $1 billion of his Netflix stock to a Silicon Valley charity.
Reid Hoffman, another influential billionaire donor, continued to express his support for Biden after the debate. He told his donor network in an email that he thought it was counterproductive to “dwell on Biden’s shortcomings” and that they should “organize around Trump’s shortcomings.”
Biden’s campaign said this week that it had raised $38 million after the debate.
