“I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that,” he tells hundreds of donors in phone call.
Joe Biden told donors in a Monday phone call that he’s “done talking about the debate” and insisted they ignore any more “distractions” about his cognitive or physical fitness.
“We need to move forward. Look, we have roughly 40 days til the convention, 120 days til the election. We can’t waste any more time being distracted,” Biden reportedly said in a private call with hundreds of donors and bundlers of his National Finance Committee.
Defiant Biden tells donors: ‘We’re done talking about the debate’ https://t.co/O1sEK3oZB3
— POLITICO (@politico) July 8, 2024
“I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” Biden said.
The 81-year-old Biden reaffirmed his commitment to remain the Democrat Party’s presidential nominee amid widespread calls by prominent Democrat lawmakers, supporters, and donors for him to bow out of the race following his disastrous debate performance.
From Politico:
The forceful message from Biden — which was delivered to hundreds of top Democratic donors and bundlers in the president’s National Finance Committee — is the latest evidence that the president and his allies are working furiously to stem defections in the party. Earlier in the day, Biden sent a fiery missive to congressional Democrats, declaring his intentions to remain in the race even as roughly a half-dozen members have publicly called for him to bow out.
Several donors who participated in the call described Biden as forceful and strong. He took four questions during the meeting, including one about Biden’s plans for the next debate. The president responded that his strategy was to “attack, attack, attack,” according to a person listening to the call.
Biden repeated multiple times that he would not be leaving the race: “I’m telling you, I’m not going anywhere folks. I’m in this to the end, and I’m going to beat Trump. I promise you.”
Biden also reportedly told the donors in the call to instead focus on Trump, who he said has “gotten away with doing nothing for the last 10 days except driving around in his golf cart, bragging about scores he doesn’t score.”
But according to one donor who participated in the phone call, Biden’s defiant remarks did little to assure donors that he’s capable of beating Trump.
“I’m hearing from a lot of people who think he should get out, and I’m not getting a whole lot of ‘he should stay in,’” one donor on the call, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Politico. “I’ve also had people tell me, ‘I’m not giving anymore.’”
Over the weekend, top Democrat superdonor Whitney Tilson said the “dam has broken” against Biden among other top donors and “nobody thinks he can beat Trump.”
“I think that the dam has broken and that more and more people will come out publicly. I can tell you with certainty that as recently as last Friday and Saturday after the debate, there were quite a few people who felt like it was just an off night. As of today, I can‘t find anybody—and I am a hardcore Democrat and Biden supporter,” he told CNN, adding, “The ship has sailed and there is basically almost no support remaining for him as a candidate.”
Biden’s campaign released a statement to Congressional Democrats on Monday reiterating his intention to remain in the race amid reports that there’s a growing consensus among them that Biden should drop out.
“I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump,” Biden wrote.
This morning, I sent a letter to my fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill. In it, I shared my thoughts about this moment in our campaign.
It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ABtAaJrr0n
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 8, 2024
Biden also called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday in what amounted to be a bizarre rant in an attempt to shut down speculation that Democrats may force him to step down.
