Donations to Biden campaign are imploding, sources tell NBC News: 'The money has absolutely shut off'



An NBC News report cited several sources close to the Biden re-election campaign saying that campaign donations had imploded since the disastrous presidential debate.

The sources close to the campaign said that it had already faced a downturn in donations, but it has worsened into a crisis after President Joe Biden flailed and bumbled through the CNN debate with former President Donald Trump.

'Donors are negative... I don’t think they buy it.'

“It’s already disastrous,” said one source.

“It’s already disastrous,” said another source.

Two of the sources said that donations from major donors were trending toward being cut in half for July, or even more.

“Donors are negative. They had a call with the president. The call seemed so contrived to people; I don’t think they buy it,” said a source about a national fundraising call by Biden with donors.

“They called on people who were the most loyal, die-hard," the source continued. "There were no tough questions for the president."

The sources said that donations did pick up after the debate but then plummeted very soon afterward.

'We’ll do it without them.'

Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt tried to deny the report.

"That’s not accurate," she said.

"On grassroots fundraising, the first seven days of July were the best start to the month on the campaign — and many of those were first-time donors," Hitt added. "On the high-dollar side, we’ve had folks max out since the debate, as well."

However, the report noted that Hitt would not release the number of people who had maxed out their donations after the debate.

Sources said that the campaign believed donors who abandoned the campaign would return just to keep Trump out of the White House, and if they didn't, the campaign was prepared to push forward without them.

“If major donors don’t come along, we’ll do it without them," is how the campaign is characterized by the sources.

‘I don’t know what f***ing movie is playing.'

Donors are also finding it difficult to reach out to their networks because of doubts that Biden will stay in the race.

“You can’t reach out to someone, because someone could say, 'Geez, I didn’t know, he has dementia,’” said a top bundler to NBC News. “Right now, it’s like someone asks, 'You want to go see a movie?’ And in this case I’m saying, ‘I don’t know what f***ing movie is playing.'"

On the other side of the aisle, the Trump campaign reported that its donation website had crashed due to overwhelming demand after Trump was found guilty of 34 charges related to a hush payment made to adult film worker Stormy Daniels.

Later, it said it had garnered more than $53 million in the 24 hours after the guilty verdict.

In July, the Trump campaign reported $331 million in donations in the second quarter while the Biden campaign reported only $264 million in donations.

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George Stephanopoulos tells random pedestrian that Biden cannot serve another term, then retracts after video hits TMZ



"Good Morning America" anchor George Stephanopoulos had to retract a statement he made about President Joe Biden after commenting to a pedestrian who recorded the interaction.

'I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn't have.'

TMZ called it a "stunning" admission made by the former campaign aide to Bill Clinton on Tuesday.

"Do you think Biden should step down? You've talked to him more than anybody else has lately," the pedestrian asked Stephanopoulos.

"I don't think he can serve another four years," he responded simply.

TMZ obtained the footage and published it, which led to Stephanopoulos contacting the outlet to say he should not have made the comment.

"Earlier today, I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn't have," he said.

ABC News also distanced itself from his statement.

"George expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News," the company said.

'That's not what our polls show.'

Biden subjected himself to an interview by Stephanopoulos after Democrats called for him to step down from the campaign over the debacle of the first presidential debate on CNN. While the questioning was supposed to quell questions about Biden's competence, it only fueled the angst and division in the Democratic Party.

“Do you really believe that you’re not behind right now?” asked Stephanopoulos. “Just when you look at the reality though, Mr. President."

"Well, I don't believe that's my approval rating. That's not what our polls show," said Biden when told he was at 36% approval.

He went on to claim that he was exhausted before the debate and admitted that it was not a good night for his campaign.

The president has since said emphatically that he is not going to leave the race and that he believes he can beat Trump.

"I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Trump," read a statement attributed to Biden.

"I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn't be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024," he added.

Many polls have shown that Trump has increased his lead over Biden after the horrendous debate. In one poll, a majority of respondents said that Biden should not serve as president over his mental and cognitive deficiencies.

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