President Joe Biden’s donors said they will back the Democratic nominee in November, but there is no consensus on whether that person should be Biden.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contacted dozens of donors in Georgia who contributed directly to Biden’s campaign or to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee. Most declined to comment on the sensitive topic of Biden’s continued run for reelection, but nearly all of the 10 who agreed to interviews with the AJC said they would give him more money as the campaign goes on.
But as Biden faces pressure to end his reelection bid over concerns about his age, Georgia donors — whose contributions ranged from just under $1,300 to more than $50,000 — were unanimous in one thing: There is nothing that the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, could do to earn their vote.
Following Biden’s disastrous debate in Atlanta, calls for the 81-year-old to pass the torch to a younger leader have reshaped the campaign, and there is growing national pressure from liberal activists, wealthy donors and officials who predict Biden won’t be able to beat Trump.
In Georgia, those who support Biden do so strongly, accusing the media of creating an issue where there is none.
Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who’s donated $1,320 to Biden’s campaign and $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund as of June 30, said the president is showing his age. But that doesn’t mean he’s not up to the job, he said.
Barnes, 76, said he spent more than an hour with Biden when the president was in Atlanta to deliver the commencement speech at Morehouse College in May and saw no signs of cognitive issues.
“This guy is not incompetent,” Barnes said. “I think the magnification of a bad night as compared to the outright lies and absurdities (of Trump) — the comparison of the two is just not fair of the media. Now, that’s the media’s choice. Whatever it takes to sell papers, I guess.”
Martha Fineman, an 81-year-old Emory University law professor, said she’s also been disappointed by the way Biden’s mental acuity has been framed in the media, especially in comparison with Trump’s felony convictions and other scandals.
“I canceled my AJC subscription because of their inappropriately biased coverage and editorial on this topic, as well as also canceling my subscriptions (to) other publications that seem to be focused on trying to push President Biden out but are reluctant to fully — or even vaguely — explore the appalling record and scandals surrounding his opponent,” said Fineman, who’s contributed more than $2,000 to Biden’s reelection campaign.
Fineman’s sentiment was shared often by donors who were contacted by the AJC, but not by all.
Georgia State University astronomy professor Todd Henry, 62, said Biden is “probably one of the best presidents, if not the best president, I’ve ever experienced.” But he said it’s time for the president’s career to wind down. He said in his circle of family members and friends he trusts, they all think Biden should step aside.
“It’s just time, right?” said the Atlanta resident, who donated $1,000 to the Biden campaign and another $1,000 to the president’s fundraising committee. “He was going to be a bridge to the next generation, and in my view, it’s time to open the bridge.”
The president has dismissed efforts to push him aside, all but daring naysayers to pick a fight. Since the debate, his campaign has sent several emails to supporters with the subject line “I’m running.” And Biden told MSNBC this week that any challengers should “go ahead, announce for president — challenge me at the convention.”
Keith Mason, who served as chief of staff to Gov. Zell Miller in the 1990s and worked in Democratic political circles for decades, said an ABC interview Biden did last week with George Stephanopoulos didn’t move the needle much.
“I don’t think he persuaded anybody who had doubts about his ability to go forward,” said Mason, 62. “I don’t think he gave his detractors much more ammunition, either.”
Donors interviewed by the AJC said they believe Biden flubbed the debate and has not done much since then to reassure critics. But those concerns paled in comparison with the thought of another Trump administration.
High-profile Atlanta criminal defense attorney Ed Garland, who donated $6,600 to Biden’s campaign, said the future of the country is at stake.
“I know we need to unify to stop this lying, cheating crook from becoming president and endangering our democracy,” he said.
