Several of President Joe Biden’s top donors are already mobilizing around Vice President Harris as the next Democratic nominee for president.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, one of Biden’s biggest financial supporters, quickly announced his support for Harris.
“Kamala Harris is the right person at the right time,” Hoffman posted on X. “It’s time for us to unite. I wholeheartedly support Kamala Harris and her candidacy.”
Alex Soros called for the same.
Trending
“It’s time for us all to unite around Kamala Harris and beat Donald Trump. She is the best and most qualified candidate we have. Long Live the American Dream,” Soros posted.
Other major Democratic bundlers, like Gretchen Sisson in California, have also reportedly said enthusiasm is high for Harris among the donor class, per The New York Times.
Just last week, film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg warned Biden that big-money donors’ cash was drying up. After weeks of similar reports — that Biden’s donors were growing weary of the president’s candidacy — there are early signals that the vice president could shore up some of that monied support in short order.
But not all of Biden’s big backers were so quick to shift their focus to Harris on Sunday.
Melinda French Gates notably didn’t mention Harris’ name when thanking Biden for stepping down.
Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix, and one of Biden’s first big donors to call for the president to step down, appeared to raise the issue that Harris was from California — a solid blue state.
“Dem delegates need to pick a swing state winner,” Hastings posted.
Vinod Khosla, a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley who hosted a Biden fundraiser in May, also didn’t back Harris, instead naming two swing state governors: Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro.
“Time to have an open convention and get a more moderate candidate who can easily beat @realDonaldTrump,” Khosla tweeted. “@GovWhitmer and @GovernorShapiro would be a great thing for America not held hostage between MAGA extremists and DEI extremism.”
So far, only one Biden donor has outrightly stated he wouldn’t support Harris: John Morgan.
“You have to be enthusiastic to ask people for money,” Morgan told The New York Times.
—
Ryan Hernández is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Author
