Longtime Democratic donor Whitney Tilson said on CNN on Wednesday that she has “very little left” to support President Joe Biden as the party's nominee, arguing that she may drop out within days.
Tilson appeared on “Erin Burnett Outfront” to discuss the ongoing reports about Biden's poor performance in last week's debate. The CNN host asked Tilson about his public comments about Biden and whether he thinks public pressure will spur calls for the president to step down. (Related: Poll: Trump more than doubles lead over Biden since debate)
“I think the dam is going to break and more and more people are going to come out publicly. I'm sure there were quite a few people after last Friday and Saturday's debate who felt like they just had a bad day. As of today, there's no one like that, even though I'm a staunch Democrat and a Biden supporter,” Tilson said.
“I love Joe Biden. I respect the fact that he's an optimist and a fighter, and that's served him well for the 52 years since he was first elected to the Senate. But unfortunately, that ship has sailed and there's basically very little support left for him as a candidate. Not because I'm against him personally, but because nobody thinks he can be Trump, and unfortunately, I think that's true.”
“From everything I'm hearing — the polls, the conversations I'm having with donors, what politicians are saying behind the scenes — I think we've reached a tipping point,” Tilson said. “Only a few have gone public, but trust me, they're all saying the same thing deep down: They just don't want to… They actually think that going public will make Joe Biden stubborn and go against what we all want.”
As post-debate polls began to show Trump widening his lead over Biden, some Democrats and party donors began to support the idea of replacing Trump as the presidential nominee in 2024. The president was quickly criticized by many for his poor performance in the debate, including freezing up and lying mid-sentence.
Following the event, Democratic big donors reportedly discussed intervening to persuade the president to step aside for the duration of the election. According to The New York Times, Democratic National Committee member James Zogby further blasted the president in a letter to committee leaders on Tuesday outlining a possible plan to help the party field another candidate.