Wealthy Democratic donors who believe a different nominee would be the party’s best chance to hold the White House are increasingly gritting their teeth in silence about President Joe Biden, fearful that any move against him could backfire.

Donors Carefully Watched Debate

As of late Tuesday, the party’s moneyed class was carefully monitoring post-debate poll results and the positioning of elected Democrats for signs that support for Biden was cracking.

Earlier moves by donors to mount their own campaigns to pressure Biden to step down as the party’s presidential candidate have either fizzled out or prompted pushback from fellow contributors and operatives.

The deadlock reflects a broader paralysis within the party about how to handle a fraught situation that could inflame intraparty rifts, alienate key constituencies, damage personal relationships and benefit a Republican candidate most of the donors believe poses a threat to democracy.

The dynamic started taking shape mere hours after the debate.

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At a breakfast on Friday morning at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado, where nearly 50 Democratic donors had gathered for a preplanned meeting convened by the super political action committee American Bridge, one person asked the crowd for a show of hands of how many thought Biden should step aside. Nearly everyone in the room raised their hands, according to two people present.

Some members of the Democracy Alliance network of liberal financiers proposed a public statement calling on Biden to stand down, setting off a vigorous debate among some members of the group, with some floating their dream tickets. But the group’s board met after the debate and decided to maintain its support for Biden, according to a person briefed on the decision.

Liberal Donor Collective ‘Way to Win’

On a private email list including members of another liberal donor collective called Way to Win, participants expressed frustration with the Democratic Party’s circling of the wagons around Biden and urged that Vice President Kamala Harris be considered for the top spot on the ticket.

A small private online poll distributed after the debate to liberal donors and their advisers found that of dozens of respondents, more than 70% indicated that they were “ready to explore Plan B.”

And on Wall Street, some of Biden’s wealthiest past backers — including Seth Klarman, the billionaire CEO of the hedge fund Baupost and a sharp critic of former President Donald Trump — have privately discussed whether to look beyond Biden, according to two people briefed on his thinking.

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On Tuesday, both American Bridge and the Democracy Alliance hosted calls for donors anxious about the situation. Of the more than a dozen donors who spoke on the Bridge call, only one argued that the party should stick with Biden, according to a participant. Others expressed a desire to move on.

And next week, the dilemma is expected to be a hot topic on the sidelines of the annual meeting of CEOs at the Allen & Co. summit in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to a person close to several major donors.

The deliberations among wealthy Democrats, detailed in more than two dozen interviews as well as in written communications reviewed by The New York Times, only intensified as the Biden campaign and the party establishment formed a protective wall around him in the days after the debate.

Parties Aggressive Defense of Biden Scares Donors

The party’s aggressive defense of Biden scared off donors from publicly calling for his replacement, said Maggie Kulyk, owner of a wealth management firm and a board member of the Women Donors Network.

“Toeing this line makes us look almost, but not quite, as morally bankrupt as the Republican Party,” she said. “I mean, c’mon, man! Know when to say when.”

Kulyk added that donor coalitions might be timid about calling out Biden because they do not want to alienate donors “who feel strongly that we just need to stay the course.”

But, she said, “I don’t think the wall is very strong,” adding, “If a few voices came out, it could all come apart. And in my mind, I think that’s what needs to happen.”

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Donor support is one of the indicators being closely watched to gauge whether Biden will be able to survive the mounting doubts caused by his weak debate performance. Other factors include the stances of elected Democrats, some of whom began on Tuesday to question whether it is in the party’s best interest to stick with Biden, as well as post-debate polls.

The backing of major contributors matters to Biden. Both Trump and Biden have harnessed digital fundraising to their advantage during difficult moments, such as Biden’s catastrophic debate and Trump’s criminal conviction. But it is seven-figure donors who are essential to financing negative ads by super PACs, for instance.

Biden Team are Uneasy About ideas on Changing the Ticket

The Biden team, along with some donors themselves, are uneasy about the suggestion that major contributors could orchestrate a change of the ticket.

“To suggest that the donor community could do that is scary,” said Craig Kaplan, a lawyer and Democratic donor in New York. “Money plays too much of a role in politics already.”

The debate has particularly riven Democratic donor groups that are typically fairly harmonious. At Way to Win, a donor collaborative founded during the peak of Trump-era resistance, organization leaders have touted Harris as a potential replacement for Biden.

Jen Fernandez Ancona, a founder of the group, stressed Harris’ electoral viability to allies in an internal email chain reviewed by the Times: “I absolutely believe we can do it with Harris at the top of a ticket and a good VP choice.”

Tory Gavito, another founder of Way to Win, said in an interview that the organization’s official position stopped short of calling for Harris to lead the ticket.

If Biden withdrew, and Harris ascended to the top of the ballot, she would inherit the campaign’s cash reserves, which stood at $212 million at the beginning of last month. If another candidate were elevated to the top of the ticket, things could get more complicated. “Think it through,” said Steve Silberstein, a major Democratic donor. “You’ve got to think three moves ahead of this game.”

Donors Contemplate Replacements

Democratic donors have hotly debated prospective replacements beyond Harris, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. Some donors have reached out to Newsom to encourage him to make a run, according to a person familiar with the outreach.

In recent days, some company leaders and Democratic political operatives have called JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, according to someone with knowledge of the calls, to gauge his interest in replacing Biden. (Dimon has said repeatedly that he will not run.)

Michael Novogratz, a cryptocurrency investor who supported Biden in 2020 but now worries about his age, welcomed the moment. “I have been advocating for other choices,” he wrote in a text to the Times. “The poor performance at the debate opened that door for the first time.”

Klarman, the hedge-fund manager and a strong supporter of Biden in the run-up to the debate, has in recent days told friends and fellow donors that they should seriously consider exploring a Plan B, citing his debate performance, according to a person who has spoken to him.

“The most important thing President Biden — and all of us who have supported him to date — can do is prioritize the defeat of Donald Trump in this election,” Klarman said in a statement. “I trust President Biden, who has been a truly great president, will continue to keep this at the center of every decision about the path forward.”

Donors pushing for replacing Biden should be careful what they wish for, warned John Morgan, a lawyer who said he had raised nearly $1 million for the Biden campaign and was planning a summer fundraiser for Biden.

“I fear that the scrum for a new nominee could cause more infighting and do more harm than good in the overall scheme,” Morgan wrote in a text. “None of us will decide — the president will.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Theodore Schleifer, Kenneth P. Vogel, Shane Goldmacher and Kate Kelly
c.2024 The New York Times Company