Joe Biden fundraising signs of weakness appear post debate

President Joe Biden’s fundraising efforts are showing cracks in his once-strong defense, nearly 10 days after his disastrous defeat in the presidential debate.

Some Biden campaign fundraisers have stopped calling potential donors since the June 27 debate, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Nobody is answering the phones,” said a well-connected Democratic fundraiser who raises money for Biden and the party. This person and others were granted anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations on a sensitive topic.

Some of Biden’s fundraisers are limiting their outreach to people in their personal fundraising networks after receiving no response to their requests or angry replies questioning why they should give money to Biden after his poor debate performance, according to people familiar with the matter.

Banders play a vital role in any campaign’s fundraising strategy. Banders are usually wealthy and well-connected, and they directly contact people in their personal networks, both social and professional, who agree to solicit donations for their campaigns or joint fundraising committees.

Fundraising is more art than science. Some people ask for small donations from those they know, while others are comfortable asking for six-figure checks. The key is that fundraisers are putting their own personal wealth to work, essentially asking friends, family, clients and colleagues for a favor: to donate money to candidates who share their values.

Banders’ progress is a litmus test for a campaign’s momentum. When a candidate is on a roll, Banders will be enthusiastic about the campaign to tell friends and family about it. But when a candidate is struggling, Banders often sense the slowdown long before it reaches campaign staff.

Some of Biden’s fundraisers are considering whether to suspend phone calls, texts and emails because they don’t think he will stay in the campaign for long, despite the president’s comments.

“I will not be raising any more money or writing any checks until I am confident that Biden is the nominee and the campaign has set up fundraising dates for him,” said John Morgan, a longtime Biden ally and fundraiser.

“The next few weeks will be key, but my donors need to be confident that Biden is the nominee,” Morgan said when asked what assurance he wanted that Biden would remain in the presidential race.

Other donors are pulling out, believing the president should withdraw from the race.

“It’s now best for the country and the world for him to pass the baton. It would be a disaster for the country for him to continue campaigning,” said Stewart Bynum Jr., chairman of Choice Hotels and a major Biden donor..

“We will support the candidate after the convention, whoever that is, not before the convention,” Bainham said in an interview with CNBC on Monday. The convention is scheduled to run from Aug. 19 to 22 in Chicago.

Bynum hosted fundraisers for Biden. Maryland Last year, Trump dropped out of the presidential race ahead of the party convention, saying the nominee would be chosen by delegates.

“We want to know who the candidate will be. We believe there should be an open party convention and the delegates should be able to decide,” he added.

Federal Election Commission records show that Mr. Bynum and his wife, Sandy Bynum, have each donated the legal limit of $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, which will give to the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of state parties.

Bynum said he was concerned that if Biden didn’t withdraw, he would lose to former President Donald Trump and Democrats would lose out on any chance of regaining control of the House or retaining their Senate majority.

A Biden campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

As of Monday, Biden was trailing Trump by 3.3 percentage points in the general election. RealClearPolitics Poll Average.

New Bloomberg/Morning Consult vote Polls over the weekend showed Trump leading Biden in key battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

In Michigan and Wisconsin, polls showed Biden leading by 5 and 3 points, respectively.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who has been fundraising for Biden since the debate, said he’s heard from some donors that they’re “shivering.”

But Rendell also told CNBC that after the debate, Philadelphia lawyer Lisa Kubnick contacted him and pledged that she and her husband would donate at least $10,000 to Biden’s campaign. Federal Election Commission records show that Kubnick, a former partner at Troutman Pepper LLP, has already donated at least $25,000 to the committee.

Kabnick did not respond to an email from CNBC about whether he plans to continue donating to Biden.

If Biden and his campaign were to experience a drop in fundraising in the coming weeks, it would mark a major shift for a president who has long wielded incredible financial clout. Fundraisers for their own election campaigns And for the Democrats.

The president’s campaign boasted that it raised $127 million in June, including more than $30 million it said it raised in the days after the debate. The entire Biden reelection effort, made up of its campaign committees, allied groups and the Democratic National Committee, said it had $240 million in cash on hand as of the start of July.

Yet despite Biden’s efforts to reassure party donors that his debate performance was a one-off negative incident, some are still shaken by a performance in which Biden struggled to finish sentences, maintain his train of thought and respond forcefully to Trump.

Efforts to assuage donors’ concerns appear to be having mixed results.

On Monday, Biden participated in a conference call with many of his top donors, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. The call started nearly 35 minutes later than its scheduled noon start time, according to a person who attended the call.

The president reiterated to donors his intention to continue the campaign despite deep doubts among some about whether he can beat Trump, according to two people who attended the call.

Biden said he plans to “attack, attack, attack, attack” Trump in the second debate over his poor performance in the debate. September“The call lasted about 30 minutes,” one of the people involved explained.

The criticism Biden has received from party donors does not seem to have fazed him, even as several people, including Disney family heiress Abigail Disney, have said they plan to stop donating to Democrats until Biden withdraws.

“I don’t care what the billionaires have to say,” Biden said Monday in a surprise appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “And, by the way, I don’t see the billionaires flocking to Trump.”

While there is certainly unease among Democratic donors, there are still many who are willing to continue supporting the president.

“I fully support the president and will continue to donate. The president is not perfect, but the alternative is unacceptable — not just to Democrats, but to independents and many progressive and traditional conservative Republicans,” said TransCurrent CEO Glenn Talman. Talman, an entrepreneur and founder of Livongo Health, donated $450,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in March, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Several fundraising events for Biden are also planned around the country.

Biden is aiming to attend a fundraiser in Austin, Texas. July 15According to a person familiar with the matter, Trump is scheduled to give a speech at the Johnson Presidential Library on the same day.

The source said Trump plans to visit California and Colorado later this month for fundraising events co-hosted by businessman Tim Gill, real estate executive Wayne Jordan and his wife, Quinn Delaney, a longtime Democratic donor.

A representative for Gill did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Jordan also did not respond to a request for comment.

Rendell said he was planning a September fundraiser for Biden in Pennsylvania, and Biden supporters in New York were also planning a September fundraiser, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“Some people may have decided not to donate, but I guarantee they will start giving again if the polls show they’re ahead of Trump,” Rendell said.