Hollywood's Democratic donors turn away from Biden

Hollywood has always been a cash cow for the Democratic Party.

But unease over US President Joe Biden's candidacy have not subsided - despite a lengthy news conference on Thursday where he made clear he had no intention of standing aside despite mounting pressure from within his own party.

The concerns over his age have some faithful A-list donors in one of the most liberal corners of the US turning their back on Mr Biden, with several publicly withdrawing their support and calling for him to be replaced.

Even before George Clooney, a prominent Democratic fundraiser, authored a damaging opinion piece calling for Mr Biden to step aside as the party's candidate, novelist and screenwriter Ayelet Waldman stopped donating to liberal candidates up and down the ballot in protest.

“I’ve always donated. I've always donated more than I can afford,” she told the BBC. “But this is the first time I have ever decided to stop donating up and down the ballot as a means of indicating my - I think displeasure isn't the right word - absolute, gut-curdling panic.”

Ms Waldman was inspired by the screenwriter Damon Lindelof who on 3 July wrote a guest column in the industry publication Deadline, urging Democrats to “stop giving money” to all candidates until President Biden steps away from the race.

“Is it misguided to punish the entire team for the stubbornness of the pitcher? Maybe,” Mr Lindelof wrote. “But it’s also common sense that if he stays in, they will also lose. A rising tide lifts all boats. A falling Biden sinks them.”

Social media has been full of similar sentiments from the likes of Abigail Disney, John Cusack, Stephen King, Rob Reiner and more.

The chorus of film industry surrogates signals a worsening situation for the president, who is also facing pressure from a growing number of Democratic lawmakers who say he should drop out of the race. Hollywood's A-listers are dismissed as "elites" by some Republicans, but they are reliable Democratic donors who offer influence in reaching voters across demographics and ages.

“My friend George Clooney has clearly expressed what many of us have been saying,” Reiner, an actor, filmmaker and prominent liberal, wrote on X. “Democracy is facing an existential threat. We need someone younger to fight back. Joe Biden must step aside.”

Ms Disney, a filmmaker and great niece of Walt Disney, told CNBC last week that she would withhold donations until Mr Biden dropped out of the race.

“I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect,” Disney said. “If Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose, of that I am absolutely certain."

Others, though, have criticised that stance and think Democrats are engaged in a circular firing squad when they should instead be focused on what a second Trump presidency would look like.

Popular podcaster and influencer Jack Hopkins is one of President Biden’s most consistent defenders on social media. The only thing he is boycotting are media outlets he thinks are unfair to the Democratic process. “Everyone who was ever going to vote for Biden is still going for Joe Biden,” he wrote on X.

A producer who has donated to Democrats for decades but did not want to be identified said Clooney’s editorial and any donation boycott was foolish. “If I have a choice between someone older and someone venal and dumb, I know which one I’d pick,” he said.

Actor Michael Douglas told the BBC he hosted a fundraiser for the president in April and was disappointed in Biden’s "inability" to "challenge all the lies" of Trump during their first debate last month.

Douglas said it would be "hard to imagine" Mr Biden serving his full term as president if re-elected. “I am worried,” he said.

Biden once held a clear fundraising advantage over Trump, but the gap between the two candidates has closed. The Trump campaign raised more than $330m in the April-June quarter, it announced earlier this month.

That was more than the $264m claimed by Biden during the same period.

President Biden has repeatedly said he intends to stay in the race and that he is the only candidate who can beat Trump in the November election.

But those assertions have failed to calm Democratic donors.

Mark Pincus, founder of the mobile video games firm Zynga, told the Financial Times he did not believe President Biden “will ever get around this age competency issue at this point”.

“I think the best chance for the Democratic Party will be an open convention where someone else can step in,” he said.

Ms Waldman, meanwhile, urged the party to use the convention to excite the electorate.

“I think that if Biden doesn't step aside, we are absolutely doomed,” she said. “I think we have the potential for a Hail Mary, if he steps aside, that doesn't mean it's going to work. Hail Mary's almost never work, but every once in a while they do.”