Biden campaign co-chairman ‘furious’ with donors for banning contributions to president

The co-chairman of President Biden’s now-defunct campaign expressed anger at big donors who decided to freeze their contributions and suggested they had forced Biden to abandon his re-election bid.

After Biden announced he would not seek a second term on Sunday, Biden campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond told CNN that wealthy donors had “created a self-fulfilling prophecy” after Biden’s wide-ranging debate performance.

“You can’t win without money and then they would point the finger at the candidate. They would blame Biden,” he said. “For a president who has accomplished so much, it was a no-win situation.”

Richmond also offered a clear message to those defecting from Biden: “Now those donors need to step up.”

During a Thursday morning appearance on CNN, Richmond clarified his statements about the lack of significant contributions to the Biden campaign.

“Was I angry with the big donors? Absolutely,” he said.

Top Democratic fundraiser Lindy Li expressed a similar sentiment before Biden’s announcement, telling Fox News Sunday that it was becoming increasingly difficult to bring in donations for Biden.

“Fundraising has – fundraising has slowed down. People — big donors who have pledged massive check sums, and I’m talking six, seven — seven-figure checks have suddenly disappeared, fallen off the face of the earth, canceled their pledges,” Li said.

Li also said that if Biden were to withdraw, it would be a “disastrous mistake” and “political negligence” to overtake Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris raised $100 million from Sunday afternoon — when Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed his vice president to succeed him as the Democratic presidential nominee — through Monday night, her campaign announced Tuesday morning.

The Harris campaign also noted that fundraising in the wake of the president’s successful news came from more than 1.1 million unique donors, with 62% of them first-time contributors.

Harris’ campaign has noted the fundraising surge and, in an emailed announcement Monday afternoon, noted that the money raised was “the largest 24-hour increase in presidential history.”

The one-day drive easily surpassed former President Trump’s nearly $53 million campaign, and the Republican National Committee announced they brought it nearly two months ago through their online digital fundraising platform in the first 24 hours after Trump was inaugurated. convicted of 34 counts of his crime. criminal trial in New York City.