A number of donors have told the largest super PAC supporting President Biden that they are keeping their wallets and checkbooks closed while the 81-year-old remains the presumptive Democratic nominee.
The frozen pledges to Future Forward are worth approximately $90 million — and include multiple contributions of $10 million or more, the New York Times reported Friday, citing two sources familiar with the situation.
One donor told the outlet that he had rebuffed approaches by Future Forward for contributions multiple times since Biden shocked the world with his disastrous performance in his June 27 debate with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The report is another indication that Democratic bundlers have soured on Biden since the debate and have been agitating for the party to replace the president with another candidate — likely Vice President Kamala Harris.
As of Friday afternoon, 20 congressional Democrats had called on Biden to bow out of the 2024 race, with many saying they felt he could not beat Trump, 78.
The identities of the rebel donors were kept private, while an associate of another bundler, billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, ripped the move as a mistake.
“A funding freeze is a problematic strategy at this point in the election cycle,” said the associate, Rae Steward, who called on donors to give instead to progressive “issue groups” who are “agnostic about who is at the top of the ticket.”
On Wednesday, actor George Clooney, who co-hosted a $30 million fundraiser for Biden, called on the incumbent to leave the race, saying Democrats “are not going to win in November with this president.”
Biden has repeatedly insisted he will remain in the campaign to the end, arguing that he is the only Democrat proven to have defeated Trump at the ballot box.
However, the president’s campaign has already begun poll-testing Harris head-to-head against Trump, while OpenLabs, a progressive polling non-profit associated with Future Forward, has also surveyed voters on their feelings toward Harris and other potential Democrat picks.
In one OpenLabs poll taken in the aftermath of the debate, the president fared the worst compared to his Democrat counterparts. Adjusted for name recognition, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came out on top with 301 expected electoral votes, followed by Michigan.Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with 290.
Biden got only 223 electoral votes, while Harris came in at 240 and California Gov. Gavin Newsom got 235.
Future Forward did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Post.