Biden Pushes Back Against Big Donors

President Biden is trying to shore up support on multiple fronts, including from some wavering Democratic lawmakers and donors.Credit…Tom Brenner for The New York Times

Making them wait

President Biden hasn’t let up on his aggressive defense against calls to step aside: Over the past 24 hours, he pushed back against Democratic lawmakers, the news media and top fund-raisers. But an attempt to mollify some of his biggest donors in a hastily arranged call started off poorly: It began more than 30 minutes late.

For the Biden campaign, that may not be a big concern, given its highlighting of small-dollar fund-raising and attacking of corporate greed.

But for a growing number of his financial backers, Biden’s efforts to portray them as a problem ignores the real issues endangering his campaign, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch reports.

Biden started the day lashing out at elite critics. Aftera weekend of campaigning in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, he sent a defiant letter to congressional Democrats pledging to stay in the race.

The president then called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” regarded as a friendly media venue, and railed against big-ticket donors who have pushed him to withdraw. “I’m getting so frustrated by the elites — now I’m not talking about you guys — the elites in the party,” he said. “I don’t care what the millionaires think,” he added.

The president then made some of them wait. Dozens of major donors were asked to join a call with him just 24 minutes before it was set to start — only for it to begin behind schedule. “We all canceled mtgs to fit this in. So disrespectful,” one person who dialed in texted DealBook.