U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
walks
to
deliver
remarks
after
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
ruled
on
former
U.S.
President
and
Republican
presidential
candidate
Donald
Trump’s
bid
for
immunity
from
federal
prosecution
for
2020
election
subversion,
at
the
White
House
in
Washington,
U.S.,
July
1,
2024.
Elizabeth
Frantz
|
Reuters
President
Joe
Biden
is
facing
an
uprising
from
some
his
own
party’s
wealthy
donors,
including
an
heiress
to
the
Disney
family
fortune,
who
say
they
will
no
longer
fund
the
Democratic
Party
until
Biden
drops
out
of
the
presidential
race
following
his
disastrous
debate
performance.
Abigail
Disney,
the
granddaughter
to
Roy
O.
Disney,
who
cofounded
The
Walt
Disney
Company,
told
CNBC
on
Thursday
that
she
plans
to
withhold
donations
to
the
party
she
has
funded
for
years
until
Biden
drops
out.
The
president
has
said
he
has
no
plans
to
withdraw
from
the
race,
despite
calls
for
him
to
do
so.
“I
intend
to
stop
any
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
step
down
the
Democrats
will
lose. Of
that
I
am
absolutely
certain. The
consequences
for
the
loss
will
be
genuinely
dire.”
The
Democratic
Party
at
large
has
been
in
a
state
of
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
drop
out
of
the
race,
suggesting
the
debate
performance
proved
to
voters
that
the
president
is
incapable
of
taking
on
Trump
and
unable
to
overcome
his
distance
in
the
polls.
A
New
York
Times/Sienna
College
poll
taken
after
the
debate
showed
Biden
behind
Trump
by
6
percentage
points
among
likely
voters.
Representatives
for
the
Biden
campaign
did
not
return
requests
for
comment.
Abigail
Disney
has
been
a
longtime
supporter
of
Democrats.
She
gave
$50,000
to
the
Jane
Fonda
Climate
political
action
committee
in
April,
according
to
a
Federal
Election
Commission
filing.
The
PAC
has
given
$35,000
to
Democrats
running
for
congressional
seats,
according
to
data
from
OpenSecrets.
Disney
gave
$150,000
in
2014
to
Planned
Parenthood
Votes,
a
PAC
affiliated
with
the
health
care
nonprofit,
according
to
OpenSecrets.
That
PAC
this
election
cycle
has
spent
over
$400,000
supporting
Democrats,
including
$26,000
for
Biden.
Disney
pointed
to
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
as
a
solid
alternative
to
Biden,
arguing
she’d
be
able
to
defeat
Trump.
“We
have
an
excellent
Vice
President.
If
Democrats
would
tolerate
any
of
her
perceived
shortcomings
even
one
tenth
as
much
as
they
have
tolerated
Biden’s
(and
let’s
not
kid
ourselves
about
where
race
and
gender
figure
in
that
inequity)
and
if
Democrats
can
find
a
way
to
stop
quibbling
and
rally
around
her,
we
can
win
this
election
by
a
lot,”
Disney
said.
And
she’s
not
the
only
one
pausing
gifts
until
Biden
steps
down.
Gideon
Stein,
the
president
of
the
Moriah
Fund,
said
he’s
decided
to
pause
planned
donations
of
$3.5
million,
earmarked
for
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
on
more
than
$3
million
in
planned
donations
to
nonprofits
and
political
organizations
aligned
with
the
presidential
race,
with
the
exception
of
some
down
ballot
work,”
Stein
said.
“Virtually
every
major
donor
I’ve
talked
to
believes
that
we
need
a
new
candidate
in
order
to
defeat
Donald
Trump.”
Karla
Jurvetson,
a
philanthropist
and
major
Democratic
donor,
hinted
as
recently
as
Tuesday
in
a
private
donor
call
that
she
agrees
with
the
sentiment
on
pausing
donations
until
Biden
steps
down
and
could
end
up
making
such
move,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
her
remarks.
The
person
was
granted
anonymity
in
order
to
speak
freely
about
a
private
conversation.
A
spokesman
for
Jurvetson
did
not
return
repeated
requests
for
comment.
Jurvetson
is
among
the
top
50
donors
this
cycle
across
the
country,
donating
over
$5
million
to
Democrats,
according
to
OpenSecrets.
She’s
given
over
$200,000
to
the
Biden
Victory
Fund
this
cycle,
according
to
FEC
records.
Jurvetson
gave
over
$30
million
to
Democrats
in
2020,
according
to
the
data.
