Top Democratic Donors Want Biden To Drop Out: 'He Has No Chance'
Some Democratic donors who have seen former Vice President Joe Biden limp through Iowa and New Hampshire appear to be backing away from the Biden campaign as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg makes inroads among them.
“I feel sorry for Biden,” Leon Cooperman, a billionaire hedge fund investor who supports Democrats, told Fox Business.
“He should withdraw; he has no chance.”
Although Biden raked in cash this week at New York city fundraisers, Fox Business reported its sources as saying much of that was committed before Biden’s lackluster showing in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The outlet reported that “big donors have more recently pulled back.”
Cooperman supports Bloomberg, and disparages Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“Sanders is a communist and we are not ready for a communist or socialist as president,” Cooperman said.
Bloomberg has said he is self-funding his campaign.
But the fact that wealthy potential donors are sidling up to his campaign means their funds will not be available to other candidates.
“I am fully committed to Mike,” former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack told CNBC.
Mack had been invited to one of Biden’s recent New York City fundraisers, but did not attend because he will support Bloomberg.
Gilbert Garcia, a member of the Democratic National Committee and a managing partner at a Texas-based asset management firm, is among those supporting Bloomberg, saying he believes Bloomberg has electability — the quality that had made Biden an early favorite.
Biden donor Alan Patricof, a venture capitalist, said Biden needs to win the Feb. 29 primary in South Carolina and do well in the Feb. 22 Nevada caucuses.
“Everybody is sticking with Joe until they see what happens there,” Patricof told CNBC.
Bloomberg’s campaign has “confused people” due to the former mayor’s late entry into the race, he said.
“The same people who would be supportive of Mike are the same people who would be supportive to Biden,” he said.
Donors are not changing the candidates they support “until it runs its course,” Patricof said.
“I think it’s fair to say I’ve always been a friend of Mike’s and he’s a very viable, formidable candidate. His ads are overwhelming at this point.”
Although Biden has based his campaign on strong support from black voters, recent comments make it uncertain if black donors will also support him.
“Black donors are sophisticated and they want to see candidates engage on a full-scale level. Right now, if I’m being transparent, I don’t think any of the candidates running are up for the challenge,” Quentin James, founder of The Collective PAC, which support black candidates, told Politico.
“People are frustrated. I don’t know how else to communicate that.”
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