(NewsNation) — A growing group of celebrity Democratic donors are calling on President Joe Biden to step down from his 2024 bid, some of whom have threatened to withhold future contributions.
Public concerns over the 81-year-old’s ability to serve a second term intensified after the first 2024 presidential debate in June. Biden appeared to stumble over his words and lose his train of thought during his first standoff with former President Donald Trump this election cycle.
The chorus calling on Biden to back down grew stronger after the president’s solo news conference Thursday. Fresh from the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., Biden confused the name of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with that of Russian President Vladimir Putin and referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”
Biden has repeatedly declined to give up his reelection bid but recently told DNC delegates they’re “free to do whatever they want.”
The party must nominate a candidate by Aug. 7
George Clooney
The self-described lifelong Democrat detailed his concerns about the president’s abilities in a July 10 New York Times op-ed.
“In the last four years, (Biden) has won many of the battles he’s faced,” Clooney wrote. “But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time…the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Clooney co-hosted a fundraiser for Biden’s reelection in June and previously spearheaded Democratic fundraising events for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Selecting a new presidential nominee would be a “messy” process but one that has the potential to win back “checked out” voters, Clooney said.
“Let’s hear from Wes Moore and Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear and J.B. Pritzker and others,” he wrote.
Stephen King
Famed author Stephen King posted on X July 8, calling for Biden to call off his reelection bid.
“Joe Biden has been a fine president, but it’s time for him—in the interests of the America he so clearly loves—to announce he will not run for reelection,” he said.
X owner Elon Musk replied, saying, “Even Stephen King is voting for Trump!”
King has been an outspoken critic of the Republican Party.
Abigail Disney
The daughter of longtime senior Disney executive Roy E. Disney said she’ll stop donating to the Democratic Party “unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket.”
“This is realism, not disrespect,” she told CNBC on July 4. “Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high.”
Abigail Disney is a longtime Democratic donor. She’s contributed nearly $2 million to federal Democratic candidates, committees and groups since 1992, according to NewsNation partner The Hill, which analyzed Federal Election Commission (FEC) contributions. Her combined contributions during this election cycle so far total $63,000.
“If Biden does not step down, the Democrats will lose,” she said. “Of that, I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire.”
Reed Hastings
Earlier this month, Netflix co-founder and Democratic donor Reed Hastings shared his doubts about Biden’s ability to lead a second term. He told The New York Times the president needs to “step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.”
Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, donated $1.5 million to support Biden ahead of his 2020 victory. They also contributed $100,000 in the summer of 2023 to back his 2024 reelection efforts, The New York Times reported.
Hastings has a close relationship with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom some have suggested as an alternative nominee, the newspaper noted.
Ashley Judd
Actor and activist Ashley Judd made a public call Friday for Biden to step aside.
“The defense of our cherished rights and freedoms, the moral imperative that we do better by more people, and our bodies, cannot be left to voters who see and are frightened of the consequences of President Biden’s obvious limitations, or who are now not going to vote,” Judd wrote in a USA Today opinion piece.
Until now, Judd had been an outspoken Biden supporter. She noted that joining the chorus of celebrities and donors advocating for Biden to leave the race may cost her professional opportunities.
“Their outrage at me is insignificant compared to the harm that is assured under a second Trump term for, say, our LGBTQ+ families,” she wrote.
Judd lost an endorsement in 2017 after she quoted Trump during a performance of Nina Donovan’s “I am a Nasty Woman” poem. She also is among those whose allegations helped spark the #MeToo movement.