Two well-connected Democratic consultants who work closely with major Democratic donors acknowledged to Fox News that President Biden’s fundraising has slowed significantly over the past week.
The news comes as Biden continues to resist growing calls within his Democratic Party for the president to step down and end his 2024 reelection campaign following his disastrous performance in last month’s debate with Republican rival, former President Trump.
“People are starting to pump the brakes a little bit. They want to wait and see how it plays out,” one fundraiser, who spoke freely on the condition of anonymity, told Fox News.
A second donor, who asked not to be named, agreed, stressing that major donors have paused funding “until things calm down.”
Trump’s staggering second-quarter fundraising tally surpasses Biden’s massive fundraising haul in 2024 rematch cash dash
President Biden speaks at his campaign office in Philadelphia on Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Senator)
The incident was first reported yesterday by NBC News and was soon followed by several other news outlets, including CNN and Politico.
Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt responded to the reports by saying they were “not accurate.”
“The first seven days of July were the best start to the campaign month in terms of grassroots fundraising, with many from first-time donors. As for large donors, some have reached their donation limits since the debate,” Hitt said in a statement.
This blue state’s Democratic lieutenant governor calls on Biden to stop campaigning for president
The president tried to reassure major donors in a call earlier this week, insisting that he remains the best candidate to defeat President Donald Trump in November’s election.
But actor George Clooney, one of Biden’s biggest supporters and donors in Hollywood and one of the organizers of a major fundraiser in Los Angeles last month with Biden and former President Barack Obama that raised $28 million for the presidential campaign, called on Biden on Wednesday to step down.
![Donald Trump and Joe Biden debate in Atlanta](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/07/1200/675/Donald-Trump-Joe-Biden-debate-in-Atlanta.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
President Biden (right) and former President Trump attend the 2024 presidential debate in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The Biden campaign boasted immediately after the June 27 debate in Atlanta that it had raised an astounding $38 million.
Fox News has confirmed that Biden is scheduled to attend several big-ticket fundraisers this month, including one in Austin, Texas, early next week and another on the West Coast at the end of the month.
But organizers of at least one Chicago-area fundraiser scheduled for next month’s Democratic National Convention have decided to cancel the event, a Democratic source confirmed to Fox News. A Biden campaign spokesman said the event was not part of the campaign’s official fundraising schedule.
Following a brutal performance in his first head-to-head debate with Trump, Biden has been trying to prove he still has the stamina and acumen to handle the toughest, most demanding job in the world — and the mental fortitude to beat Trump.
What battleground state voters are saying about Biden’s extremely tough debate performance
Discussion It was a major setback for Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in U.S. history. His halting speech and halting answers in the Atlanta contest caused widespread panic within the Democratic Party and prompted public and private calls from within the party for him to step down as the 2024 presidential candidate.
![Biden speaking at a campaign rally.](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/07/1200/675/Biden-Photo-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
President Biden spoke at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin on July 5, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Since the debate, 10 House Democrats and one Senate Democrat have publicly called on Biden to give up reelection, and a growing number of House and Senate Democrats are publicly and privately warning that Biden will lose to Trump in November’s presidential election.
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In a letter to Democratic lawmakers on Monday after returning from the July 4th holiday, Biden reiterated his “commitment to continuing this campaign,” and insisted, “The question of how to proceed has been debated for over a week now, and it is time to end it. We have one job: to defeat Donald Trump.”
“Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the agenda ahead will only help Trump and hurt us,” the president added. “Now is the time to come together, to move forward as a party and to defeat Donald Trump.”
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.