Top Democrat donor calls for Biden withdrawal

The president should quit the race and give way to a “vigorous leader” who could beat Donald Trump, according to Netflix’s Reed Hastings

Joe Biden should step away from the 2024 US presidential election to find someone who could defeat presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings told the New York Times on Wednesday. 

Hastings is one of the first major Democratic donors to speak out as pressure mounts on the president following his “disastrous” debate performance last week against Republican challenger Trump.  

According to the newspaper, Hastings is going public with what many Democratic megadonors are saying privately. 

“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” the businessman told The Times. 

According to the newspaper, the Netflix co-founder has become one of the biggest donors to the Democratic Party in recent years. Together with his wife, Patty Quillin, he has given more than $20 million to support the party over the last few years, including as much as $1.5 million to back Biden during the 2020 race and $100,000 last summer to support him in 2024. Most of the donations have reportedly gone to so-called super PACs meant to help House and Senate Democrats. 

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The Times reported previously, citing sources, that some key donors have been looking at ways of replacing Biden with a stronger candidate on the 2024 ticket after his weak debate performance, which saw the 81-year-old repeatedly stumble over his words and lose his train of thought.  

A post-debate Reuters/Ipsos poll found that one in three Democrats believe that Biden should quit.  

The White House and the Biden campaign have offered a range of excuses for what happened at the debate.  

At a campaign event earlier this week, Biden blamed his poor debate performance on his busy international travel leading up to the event, saying he “nearly fell asleep on stage.” 

The White House has dismissed rumors of Biden’s potential withdrawal, with spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre saying the president remains “clear-eyed, and he is staying in the race.”