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The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
Joe Biden on Saturday sought to reassure Democratic donors that he can defeat Donald Trump, after a disastrous debate performance prompted party insiders to call on the US president to abandon his re-election bid.
Biden met wealthy backers at a fundraiser in East Hampton, New York, on Saturday afternoon, where the cost of entry ranged from $3,300 to $250,000 per person, according to the invitation. He was expected to attend a separate fundraiser later on Saturday in Red Bank, New Jersey, hosted by the state’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy.
Biden also addressed donors and supporters at a fundraiser in Manhattan on Friday night, where he pushed back on concerns about his age and insisted that he would stay in the race for the White House.
“Whether young or old, here’s what I know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job,” Biden said.
“When you get knocked down you get back up,” he added. “Folks, I would not be running again if I did not believe with all of my heart and soul that I can do this job because quite frankly, the stakes are too high. Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.”
There have been mounting calls since the debate for the president to step aside and allow another Democrat to be the party’s nominee for the White House ahead of November’s election.
At 81 years old, Biden has faced growing public questions about his age and fitness for office. But any concerns that Democratic insiders had privately about the incumbent president spilled out into the open on Thursday night, after nearly 50mn Americans watched Biden struggle through a live, televised debate against Trump. The president rambled, appeared to lose his train of thought and struggled to complete sentences.
Biden has insisted that he will stay in the race, and campaign officials say he will participate in a second presidential debate planned for September. The campaign has touted what it says has been a record influx of grassroots, or small-dollar, donations, since Thursday. A campaign official said on Saturday morning that the campaign had raised more than $27mn between the debate and Friday evening.
“It wasn’t his greatest debate. But it is 90 minutes . . . in a campaign and in an administration, where he has achieved enormous things,” Anita Dunn, a longtime senior adviser to Biden, said on MSNBC on Saturday. “Maybe it wasn’t a great debate. But he has been a great president.”
Asked if Biden’s inner circle had discussed him dropping out after the debate, Dunn replied: “No, the conversation we had is, ‘OK, what do we do next?”
But their bullish stance has done little to quell public concern and criticism. Late Friday, the influential New York Times editorial board published a leader urging Biden to step aside.
On Saturday in East Hampton, reporters travelling with the president saw a group of onlookers holding signs that read: “Please drop out for US,” and “Step down for democracy,” and: “We love you but it’s time.”
Still, several high-profile Democrats have come to Biden’s defence. On Friday, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton both issued statements in support of Biden staying in the race.
LinkedIn founder and billionaire Democratic donor Reid Hoffman sought to calm fellow deep-pocketed Biden supporters in a letter on Friday in which he acknowledged that the president had a “very bad debate performance”. But he added that it would be a ‘bad idea” to launch a public campaign to get him to step aside.
“This election is very close, and I don’t know who will win,” Hoffman wrote. “But as a political philanthropist, with 129 days until the election, I am doubling down on my bet that America will choose Biden’s decency, care, and proven success over Trump’s violence, lies, and chaos.”
Biden needs donor backing to fund a campaign that is set to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to secure another four years in the White House. Biden had long enjoyed a fundraising advantage over Trump, but that edge has eroded in recent months. Trump outraised Biden in both April and May amid a swell of support following his conviction on 34 criminal charges in New York last month.
Trump narrowly leads Biden in national opinion polls, according to the latest FiveThirtyEight average, as well as in most of the key swing states that will decide the outcome of November’s election.
Few polls have been conducted since Thursday night’s debate, but betting markets moved dramatically against Biden during and after the showdown. A Morning Consult poll conducted on Friday found roughly half of Democratic donors said Biden should step aside in favour of another candidate.
Additional reporting by Alex Rogers in Washington
