Tech billionaire Mark Pincus is latest Dem donor to call for Biden to drop out
Billionaire Mark Pincus — the founder and former CEO of video game giant Zynga — is the latest major Democratic donor to urge President Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
The campaign hit comes as a slew of public figures — including celebrities like Bill Maher and George Clooney — have called for Biden to make room for a new candidate.
“I don’t see how President Biden will ever get around this age competency issue at this point,” Pincus told the Financial Times.
Pincus — who has a $1.4 billion net worth, according to Forbes — said holding an open convention would give the Democratic Party its best chances for a 2024 presidential win.
He said the competition would “bring new energy” to the race, in which post-debate polls show former President Donald Trump squeaking past Biden.
Pincus said there are “plenty” of other “strong players” in the Democratic Party who could take the spot on the ticket — including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The video game titan previously donated the maximum amount to the Biden Victory Fund — nearly $1 million — and gave more than $150,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
Donors’ waning support poses a threat to Biden’s re-election campaign as other campaign donors told the Financial Times that Dem funding is “drying up.”
George Krupp — a Boston real estate mogul and big Democratic donor — also called for Biden to drop out. Krupp told the Financial Times that Biden’s age “will haunt him for the rest of the election cycle.”
Pincus and Krupp’s comments came a day after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested Biden could reconsider his decision to stay in the race — though the incumbent has repeatedly confirmed otherwise.
Pelosi reportedly shared her concerns with former President Barack Obama privately.
Celebs, journalists and politicians began calling for Biden to back out of the race after a disastrous first debate performance that saw the president freezing at times and struggling to answer questions.
Most recently, Biden fumbled a high-stakes, hourlong press conference by referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” At an earlier NATO event, he mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian “President Putin.”
HBO host Bill Maher and Clooney each called for new nominees in separate guest essays for the New York Times. Maher, like Pincus, called for Newsom to join the race.