USA

Report: Biden donors withhold millions for election campaign

US President Joe Biden speaks at a press conference on the last day of the NATO summit in Washington. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP/dpa

Keystone

According to a media report, some donors to the Democratic Party are withholding an estimated 90 million US dollars in campaign support as long as US President Joe Biden remains a candidate.

Keystone-SDA

12.07.2024, 23:04

This was reported by donors to the Biden support group "Future Forward", according to the "New York Times", citing two unnamed sources. According to the newspaper, these sources did not want to comment more specifically on who exactly the donors were.

According to the newspaper, an advisor to "Future Forward", a so-called Super-Pac, said that he assumed that donors who had frozen their funds would release them again as soon as the uncertainty was resolved. "Future Forward" itself did not wish to comment.

The abbreviation "Pac" stands for political action committee. Super Pacs are organizations that can accept unlimited donations and use them to promote specific candidates or political causes - even if the groups are not allowed to donate money directly to candidates. Their influence on the election campaign is therefore considerable. Election campaigns in the USA are extremely expensive. Only those who have the necessary small change can stay in the race - and hold their own.

Prominent voices put pressure on

Last week, there were already reports that a wealthy Disney heiress wanted to withhold her financial support for the party until Biden withdrew from the race for the presidential candidacy. Wealthy film stars are also among the party's major donors. A text by actor George Clooney in the "New York Times" this week, in which he called on Biden to withdraw from the race, therefore attracted a great deal of attention.

The 81-year-old Biden has so far remained unperturbed and shows no signs of self-doubt with regard to his mental fitness. Since his disastrous performance in the TV duel against Republican challenger Donald Trump, around 20 Democratic MPs have openly opposed the US President. The latter is to be officially chosen as the Democratic candidate for the presidential election in November at the Democratic Party conference in August. He has already won the necessary delegate votes in the primaries. Therefore, only he can decide to drop out of the race.