By Even the famed Yankee closer Mariano Rivera would blow a game once in a while.
Following reports that anxious Democrats had begged Barack Obama to force Joe Biden out of the presidential race, the president’s reelection campaign responded to him and other party members with a simple message: he’s not going anywhere.
On Friday afternoon, Hakeem Jeffries even tried to pick up the pieces of his broken party.
🚨 BREAKING: Leader @hakeemjeffries: @POTUS @JoeBiden “is our nominee.”
“He’s one of the most accomplished American presidents in our history. “
“He has the vision… and the track record to make a case to the American people that will result in us being successful in… pic.twitter.com/f0DcfofGTU
— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) July 19, 2024
With Obama failing and Biden insisting he’s not leaving, the anti-Biden movement has resorted to their last ploy.
Money.
The New York Times reports that liberal megadonors have begun using their pocketbooks to force their pet politicians to denounce Biden and call for a change.
The last three weeks since President Biden wilted during the first presidential debate have uncorked a nervous energy that has stirred almost every major Democratic donor and their advisers, turning billionaires ensconced on summer vacations into crafty political animals.
They’re calling every major politician they know, encouraging them to call for Mr. Biden’s removal. They’re dangling money to members of Congress who say the right things, and withholding money from those who do not. And even the most reclusive donors are talking to reporters, sometimes on the record, about the turmoil within the party establishment.
These are chaotic times. So many ideas are bouncing around the donor class that some card-carrying members say privately that they are having trouble keeping track of all the plots. Some of the wealthiest people in the world have been locked in a perpetual, almost academic examination of how much leverage they truly have to change Mr. Biden’s mind.
Would it be best to funnel money toward a super PAC, which has raised $2 million so far, that plans to back vulnerable Democratic members of Congress who are calling for Mr. Biden’s removal? Or maybe the savvier move would be to raise money loudly for Vice President Kamala Harris, his heir apparent, as an affirmative sign that the president need not worry about passing the reins? What about setting aside some money in an escrow account that would be spent only on a Democratic presidential campaign led by someone other than Mr. Biden?
Democrats love pretending that it’s the Republicans who are controlled by the wealthy, but as liberal donors publically announce their anxieties about Trump returning to the White House, Senate Democrats have revealed whose pockets they’re in.
New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, currently in a tougher-than-expected battle for reelection, proved to be a shining example of this phenomenon. Today he showed that he’s completely controlled by Tom Strickler, a founder of the Hollywood talent agency WME who routinely gives cash to Democrats.
The Times noted that Strickler told Heinrich on Thursday, “If you don’t publicly call for Biden to step aside, you are not getting a dime from me.”
The New Mexico senator quickly obliged, releasing the following statement on Friday:
“While the decision to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is in the best interests of our country for him to step aside,” he said. “By passing the torch, he would secure his legacy as one of our nation’s greatest leaders and allow us to unite behind a candidate who can best defeat Donald Trump and safeguard the future of our democracy.”
New Mexicans must be proud at how easily bought their senator is.
A donor threatened Martin Heinrich into calling on Biden to step aside.
That isn’t leadership. It is corrupt and spineless. https://t.co/zvwjqLfpcw pic.twitter.com/xtyzLd7fiK
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) July 19, 2024
Recent polls have shown that Heinrich only leads his challenger, Nella Domenici, by a few percentage points. The same poll indicated that Trump trailed Biden by only 1 percent.
Heinrich isn’t the only Democrat in the Senate to be listening to rich people handing him cash. Earlier in the week, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the former chairman of the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, received a guilty verdict for bribery after investigators found that he received gold bars from leaders connected to Egypt.
Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for his resignation.
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