Democrat operative James Carville is urging major party donors not to contribute to any politicians who support President Joe Biden following Biden's disastrous performance at last week's debate with former President Donald Trump.
Biden, 81, mumbled, looked shaky, and lost his train of thought several times, stoking fears among many Democrats on whether the oldest-serving president in U.S. history is strong enough mentally to continue his re-election campaign against Trump. Even so, many in the party have closed ranks behind the president.
Carville is not among them. During a conference call Wednesday with dozens of wealthy donors to the Democrat SuperPAC American Bridge, Semafor reported that Carville cited Biden's plummeting poll numbers.
"Seventy-two percent of people want something different. Why not give it to them?" Carville, a strategist who was behind Bill Clinton's successful White House run in 1992, said during the hourlong call. "They're just asking for a different choice."
Carville then advised donors who want Biden out to stop funding politicians who won't take their side, according to Semafor.
"What I would say is, if we don't do something about this, I'm going to put you on call block on my cellphone," he said.
Also on the phone call was former Clinton adviser Paul Begala and Dmitri Mellhorn, an adviser to billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who has been an advocate of sticking with Biden, according to Semafor.
Mellhorn said on the call that although swing voters might think Biden is feeble, they like Vice President Kamala Harris even less.
"Kamala Harris is more threatening to those swing voters than a dead Joe Biden or a comatose Joe Biden," Mellhorn said. "So, if Joe has to go, it's gonna be Kamala and if it's Kamala, it's gonna be harder."
The debate was the earliest for prospective presidential nominees in U.S. history, and Carville said on the call the early debate might have saved Democrats, according to Semafor.
"Maybe we look back on this thing and say, This is the best thing that ever happened to us," he said. "If this would have happened to us on Oct. 5, we'd be more than bruised, screwed, and tattooed. Maybe this will set it into motion something different."