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Netflix co-founder, Disney family heiress, other Democratic megadonors pausing donations until Biden steps aside

By arseniotoledo // 2024-07-07

More and more Democratic megadonors are threatening to withhold donations to the party until President Joe Biden steps away from the presidential election to allow the Democrats to find someone who they believe could defeat former President Donald Trump. One of those notable megadonors is Reed Hastings, the billionaire co-founder of streaming giant Netflix. In a recent interview, Hastings said Biden needs to "step aside" for the Democrats to choose a more "vigorous" candidate who can "beat Trump" and supposedly keep the United States "safe and prosperous." (Related: More and more voters believe Biden should not be running for a second term after his catastrophic debate performance.) Hastings is one of the biggest donors to the Democratic Party in recent years. Along with his wife, Patty Quillin, he has provided more than $20 million to the party over the last few years, including over $1.5 million to support Biden's presidential run in 2020 and over $100,000 last summer to support his reelection bid. Most of the remaining donations went through super PACs to support Democrats in the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as to support California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The call from Hastings for Biden to step aside comes following the president's lackluster debate performance against Trump, which caused Democratic officials, donors, supporters and mainstream media outlets to go into a frenzy of panic, questioning whether the 81-year-old is still fit to serve another term. Hastings' call for Biden to drop out also comes as Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are reportedly in discussion with several notable elected Democrats, including Newsom, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is also reportedly part of the discussions, but what was spoken about in this secretive meeting is still unclear. The call also comes as more and more Democrats are coming out of the woodwork to suggest publicly that Biden should withdraw, including Texas Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Raul Grijalva.

Democratic megadonors threatening to withhold financial support until Biden drops out

Hastings is not the only Democratic megadonor to express dissatisfaction with Biden's declining abilities and his disastrous debate performance. Abigail Disney, film producer, granddaughter to The Walt Disney Company co-founder Roy O. Disney and heiress to the massive Disney family fortune, has recently stated that she would stop contributing to the party until Biden withdraws from the race. "I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high," said Disney in a statement to CNBC. "If Biden does not step down, the Democrats will lose. Of that, I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire." Disney has been a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates. In April she provided $50,000 to the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, which funnels money to Democrats running for congressional seats. Disney also gave $150,000 to the Planned Parenthood Votes PAC, which has so far spent over $400,000 in this election cycle supporting Democrats, including a $26,000 contribution to Biden's campaign. Gideon Stein, president of the multimillion-dollar private foundation the Moriah Fund, has also decided to pause planned donations of over $3.5 million to nonprofits, super PACs and other political organizations aligned with Biden's presidential race. "Joe Biden has been a very effective president, but unless he steps aside my family and I are pausing on more than $3 million in planned donations … with the exception of some down-ballot work," said Stein. "Virtually every major donor I've talked to believes that we need a new candidate in order to defeat Trump." Psychiatrist and Democratic megadonor Dr. Karla Jurvetson similarly hinted in a private donor call that she agrees with the sentiment of other party megadonors who have paused donations until Biden steps down. While not making a final decision on the matter, Jurvetson said she could end up making such a move. Jurvetson is one of the top 50 donors in the current race, having donated over $5 million to Democrats, including over $200,000 to the Biden Victory Fund. In 2020, Jurvetson provided over $30 million to Democrats. Watch this clip from The First TV discussing how time is running out for President Joe Biden to drop out and be replaced with a better candidate. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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Donald Trump democrats elections White House big government Joe Biden Campaign Donations campaign finance cancel Democrats megadonors campaign donors Reed Hastings Abigail Disney Gideon Stein Karla Jurvetson