\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-2159612737-e1719949069486.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
That was one of many questions top Democratic donors have posed to campaign staffers in recent days, according to Reuters<\/a>. Since President Joe Biden\u2019s widely derided debate performance<\/a> last week, anxiety has swelled<\/a> among the donor class over his ability to defeat former President Donald Trump in a tight race.\u00a0<\/p>\n Senior campaign officials quickly organized calls with donors on Sunday and Monday to quell their concerns, NBC reported<\/a>. One of these calls grew tense when a donor asked about the possible refund.\u00a0<\/p>\n Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez replied that Biden plans to keep running, according to NBC. When pressed further, she said the campaign war chest \u2013 about $91 million \u2013 would go to Vice President Kamala Harris if the president dropped out.<\/p>\n During a Monday call with about 500 members of the National Finance Committee, Chris Korge, the committee\u2019s finance chair, implored donors to just \u201cbreathe through the nose for a minute.\u201d Though Biden\u2019s campaign chair, Jennifer O\u2019Malley Dillon, conceded on the call that Thursday\u2019s debate was rough for the president, she emphasized its relatively low impact on voters\u2019 confidence. A Five-Thirty-Eight and Ipsos poll<\/a> found that while voters criticized Biden\u2019s performance, the debate barely dented support among his core constituencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, dubbed by some the \u201cCEO whisperer,\u201d<\/a> was one of the business leaders on Monday\u2019s call. He told Fortune<\/em> he was \u201cdiscouraged and insulted\u201d by the call, which he said resembled a pep rally filled with \u201cplatitudes.\u201d There was no public chat function, and questions that were typed into the forum seemed to go nowhere, he said. Within 15 minutes, 50 business leaders dropped from the call; 40 minutes in, 100 had left, feeling \u201cdisgusted\u201d by the Biden campaign\u2019s unwillingness to directly address the debate, Sonnenfeld added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was ridiculous manipulation and denial,\u201d Sonnenfeld told Fortune<\/em>, adding that he still plans to vote for Biden. Among business leadership, faith in Biden\u2019s campaign has been severely damaged, and there is now increasing pressure for an open convention that would allow another person to become the party\u2019s presidential nominee, Sonnenfeld added. If there is no radical change this week, he believes tensions will begin boiling over among donors.<\/p>\n Privately, Democratic financiers have been ceaselessly Signal messaging and conference calling with their networks, wondering if their investments will be wasted, the New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a>. One Silicon Valley donor canceled an intimate fundraiser due to the debate, while another told NBC that if Biden stays in the race, they will redirect their money to outside get-out-the-vote groups.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t sit on the sidelines, but it\u2019s hard and getting a lot harder to donate directly to the campaign given their judgment,\u201d the donor said, calling the devotion to Biden \u201cTrumpian.\u201d<\/p>\n Other donors have stood by Biden. Craig Kaplan, a prominent Democratic fundraiser in New York, told Fortune<\/em> that while donors initially panicked over Biden\u2019s performance, they are now understanding that \u201cit\u2019s not October.\u201d With several months to go until the election, Biden has ample opportunity to prove that he is the Democrats\u2019 best option, Kaplan said. Plus, a perceived weakness at the presidential level heightens the importance of down-ballot races, he said, explaining that, if Trump were to win, a Democratic House could prevent the worst of Trump\u2019s policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think some of the donors think [Biden\u2019s chance at winning] is gone, but when you have the conversation with them about the heightened importance of the other races, the panic recedes,\u201d Kaplan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also added that Biden doesn\u2019t necessarily need the donors: he has enough money already. And, as a working-class kid who grew up with \u201cno silver spoon,\u201d Biden isn\u2019t the type to be easily influenced by wealthy donors, Kaplan claimed.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Biden entered the race with a sizable cash lead over his opponent, Trump has out-raised Biden to date ($232 million to $212 million, according to OpenSecrets). Money is an important predictor of a campaign\u2019s power, but as Trump\u2019s surprise election in 2016 showed, the best-funded campaign doesn\u2019t always win.\u00a0<\/p>\n Representatives from the Biden campaign did not immediately respond to Fortune\u2019s<\/em> request for comment.<\/p>\n Still, some donors have taken it upon themselves to comfort their Democratic peers. <\/p>\n Dmitri Mehlhorn, a Democratic strategist and fundraiser who works closely with LinkedIn<\/a> co-founder Reid Hoffman, told Fortune<\/em> that the two were still supportive of Joe Biden. <\/p>\n \u201cThere have been many times in the last eight years when we have disagreed with the consensus of other Democratic donors,\u201d Mehlhorn said. \u201cAnd this is one of those times. Joe Biden is still\u2014for all of his faults\u2014the most likely person to defeat Donald Trump in the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoffman, who has been called<\/a> the Silicon Valley Democrats\u2019 leader, wrote in an email to friends that \u201cJoe Biden is our nominee; period,\u201d according to CNN. He said it would be a mistake to pressure Biden to step down since it might harden the president\u2019s resolve to prove himself by staying in the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also contrasted the Democrats\u2019 current panic with Republicans\u2019 increasing support of Trump, even when he was convicted of 34 felony counts during May\u2019s hush money trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey ruthlessly and immediately closed ranks,\u201d Hoffman wrote, \u201cbecause they understand that at this stage of the race, they must spend every minute and dime either boosting their old man, or tearing down ours.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the concern over replacing Biden stems from fears that it\u2019s too late\u2014and too risky<\/a>\u2014to support a candidate untested on the national stage.\u00a0Plus, Biden, as an incumbent, could have a better chance of appealing to voters<\/a> who seek stability. Others believe that Biden is fine, and just had one bad night.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another Democratic donor, Michael Kempner, could be placed into that last camp. In a recent Instagram<\/a> post, he signaled his support for the president.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u2018Ridiculous manipulation and denial\u2019 <\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Boosting their old man\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n