Panicked Biden donors are asking for their money back after disastrous debate and cognitive catastrophe
By isabelle // 2024-07-11
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As liberals continue to lose faith in President Biden’s ability to lead our country, numerous major Democrat donors have been asking for the donations they’ve made to his campaign to be refunded. Although many in his party have been privately expressing reservations about his cognitive decline, it has now entered the public discourse in a big way following his embarrassing display of confusion during the presidential debate last week. Many donors are now seeking the return of their donations to what increasingly appears to be a sinking ship so they can be given to down-ballot races where they may have a bigger impact. In response to the influx of panicked donors asking for their money back, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a private call over the weekend with dozens of big donors in which she tried to reassure them, claiming that the campaign raised more than $33 million since the disastrous debate. However, one person who took part in the call told the media that many others who attended were frustrated and concerned, with some asking about the possibility of getting a refund. They told the media that while some in the call still stood behind their candidate, “a lot of the participants are frightened.” “There were some tough comments from those on the call. Some were upset that they are just hearing campaign talking points,” one source reported. Although she emphasized that Biden is unlikely to step down, she explained what would happen to the campaign's infrastructure if that does happen. She announced that the only person who would be able to access the funds would be Vice President Kamala Harris, which could create a complicated situation, while just a smaller pool of funds would remain with the Democratic National Committee. The campaign is said to have around $91 million in the bank at the moment. One of the donors in the call said: "Some of us on that call have privately discussed if we should put our money somewhere else. The past few days have been very disappointing." The call was just one of many tense conversations that campaign leaders and advisers to the president have been having with Democratic donors and other officials about the president's questionable state of mind and who might be able to lead the ticket should he step aside. In another call held on Monday with a larger group of donors, Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks insisted that early polls indicate the debates were not overly damaging and outlined a plan to make Biden more visible in the coming days to reassure the public he can handle the job.

Biden's public cognitive struggles are widening Trump's lead

During the debate, Biden struggled to answer questions from the moderator coherently and could not hold his own against Trump. He lost his train of thought multiple times and at times made contradictory statements, leading to panic not only among those in his own party but among world leaders. Even the New York Times editorial board, which is generally very pro-Biden, has said he should step aside as the Democratic party's candidate. The situation is so bad that Trump is now leading Biden in New Hampshire, a state that has not seen a Republican win since 2000. Election polls taken after the debate also show Trump with a nationwide lead, with a poll conducted for CNN giving Trump a six percentage point lead over Biden and a Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll showing Trump beating Biden by three percent on a ballot with six candidates in a marked shift from a month earlier, when they were tied. Sources for this article include: TheNationalPulse.com NBCNews.com Reuters.com
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