Ron Klain says ‘big donors’ can’t force Biden out of the race

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain on Sunday shrugged off the prospect of President Biden losing the support of “big money donors,” arguing that they will not knock the president out of the White House race following his poor performance in the debate last week.

Klain, who served as Biden’s top adviser from the start of his presidency in 2021 until January 2023, told The New York Times it was 100 percent certain that Biden would remain in the race.

“He is the choice of Democratic voters,” Klain was quoted as saying. “We are seeing record levels of support from grassroots donors. adversity.”

Klain, who directed the president’s debate preparations last week, pointed to a 2019 primary debate that he said went poorly but did not prevent Biden’s election to the White House.

“Big donors cannot dictate the Democratic Party nomination,” Klain told The Times.

Biden is facing calls from some in the Democratic Party to step aside and allow a different candidate to take his place as the party’s nominee. No national official, however, has joined these calls yet.

His debate performance appeared to raise alarm bells for Democratic donors in New York, Southern California and Silicon Valley, who have privately expressed concerns about the viability of Biden’s re-election, the Associated Press reported.

Donors, through text message chains and private conversations, discussed a short list of potential replacements, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris, the agency added. news agency.

Two days after the debate, Biden tried to appeal to donors at a weekend fundraiser in New Jersey.

“I didn’t have a great night, but I’m going to fight harder,” Biden told attendees at New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s home on Saturday. ““Donald Trump is a genuine threat to the nation.”

Biden has already won the primary and therefore cannot be replaced at the convention unless he agrees to step aside.

Some members of Biden’s family are pressuring him to stay in the race, including his son, Hunter Biden, the Times reported, citing a person briefed on discussions among the family at Camp David this weekend.

The White House and Biden say he has no intention of dropping out of the race.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story