Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a conference call with major Democratic donors on Friday afternoon to discuss what organizers called “urgent and emerging needs.” The call came as more Democrats are publicly calling on President Joe Biden to not seek reelection.
A Biden campaign official told NBC News that the president’s advisers had asked Harris to host the call, which was also expected to include Reid Hoffman, a billionaire Democratic donor and co-founder of LinkedIn.
“We continue to find ourselves in a rapidly evolving environment,” the call invitation read. “The stakes are high in this election, and we must remain focused on the important work that needs to be done to protect our democracy.”
The call began with a presentation by the campaign’s on-site organizers, a source with direct knowledge of the call told NBC. The organizers reiterated an assertion first made in a Biden campaign memo early Friday, saying voters still want Biden, even if donors and incumbent Democrats don’t.
Harris then joined the conference call, which lasted about 40 minutes.
“First I want to tell you something that I believe in the depths of my heart, something that I feel compelled all of you to hear, take with you when you go home, tell your friends: We are going to win this election. We are going to win,” the vice president said, according to a second source who was on the call.
“We know who the candidate is who will put the American people first in this election: our president, Joe Biden,” Harris said.
Harris’ other remarks on the call were largely similar to those she made at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Thursday.
US Vice President Kamala Harris greets American model Tyra Banks as she stops by to buy ice cream at Banks’ SMiZE and DREAM ice cream shop in Washington, DC on July 19, 2024.
Erin Shaff | AFP | Getty Images
The number of Democrats calling for Biden to resign rose to more than 30 on Friday, after nine House Democrats and one Senate Democrat called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.
If Biden were to drop out of the race (something he has repeatedly insisted he never will), many see Harris as the most likely replacement to lead the Democratic field.
CNBC reported Thursday that while big Democratic donors are urging Biden to step down, fundraising events featuring Harris are selling out, and past donors to the vice president have begun privately strategizing if Biden were to step down.
More recently, Michael Moritz, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and major Democratic donor, said in an email to The New York Times on Friday: Biden should step down“Time is running out,” he wrote.
Harris, who has been active on the campaign trail this week while Biden has been in quarantine due to the coronavirus, stopped by former model Tyra Banks’ ice cream shop in Washington, D.C., earlier in the day. She did not respond to reporters’ questions about the call.
— CNBC’s Megan Cassella contributed reporting from Washington.
