Presidential campaign cochair Jeffrey Katzenberg met with President Joe Biden ahead of his scheduled appearance in Las Vegas on Wednesday to warn him that donors have stopped contributing to the campaign since the disastrous debate with Donald Trump, TheWrap has learned.
Biden canceled the appearance when he announced he has COVID.
The Hollywood power broker told Biden that many major donors are doubtful in his ability to win the election in November. TheWrap reported two weeks ago that Hollywood donors were furious at Katzenberg for vouching for the president’s physical health, and said they were moving their donations to other Democratic campaigns.
The Biden campaign responded to TheWrap: “This is a complete misread of a private meeting. We had a campaign meeting where we talked about everything from the convention to new ads. And by the way, we will raise the money we need to run a winning campaign.”
Katzenberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since a disastrous debate performance and subsequent public appearances, Democratic support from Hollywood donors for the 81-year-old president is running thin.
George Clooney, a lifetime Democrat and cohost of a recent fundraiser for the Biden campaign, was one of the first A-listers to rescind his support for the president’s re-election. In his op-ed in The New York Times, he called for the president to drop out for the sake of democracy.
Other influential Hollywood figures, including Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings, showrunner Damon Lindelof and Disney heir Abigail Disney, have all publicly called for Biden to step aside. Many others have said behind closed doors that they will stop donating to the Biden campaign and redirect their dollars to down-ballot races.
Many of these lifelong Democratic supporters put the blame on Katzenberg, as one of Biden’s closet confidants and campaign cochair.
“What Jeffrey Katzenberg has done here is unbelievable,” one Hollywood power broker, donor and influential Democrat who declined to be identified, told TheWrap. “Jeffrey lied about the whole Biden thing. The whole Biden inner circle lied … It’s such an act of hypocrisy.”
The Biden campaign was already behind in fundraising in the second quarter ahead of the debate with only $240 million against his running mate’s $285 million.
This news was first reported by Semafor.
