In the wake Joe Biden’s debate fiasco, many Hollywood Democrat donors are pointing their fingers at Jeffrey Katzenberg, claiming he misled them by downplaying Biden’s cognitive decline.
Jeffrey Katzenberg — the former Disney and DreamWorks boss who now serves as Biden’s re-election campaign co-chair — has found himself at the center of a growing storm of showbiz donors who are livid that the president’s health issues were trivialized or hidden from them altogether, according to a report from the Financial Times.
“[Katzenberg] would say, ‘He’s fine, I was just with him,” an unnamed Hollywood veteran and longtime Democratic donor told the FT. “He had this famous quote for everybody, which was ‘I’m happy to put you in a room with him and you’ll see for yourself.’ But nobody did it.”
Another showbiz executive reportedly said: “I don’t think anybody buys the ‘it was just one bad night’ excuse. The debate was a tipping point. You’ve got to expect [Katzenberg] is getting hundreds of phone calls saying ‘I’m not doing this again.’”
One source alleges that the day after the debate, Katzenberg “bailed on a meeting with an advisory board for Biden’s campaign that co-ordinates celebrity endorsement appearances.”
The campaign staff was in “shock” about Biden’s performance, the unnamed source told the FT.
Executives in Hollywood and the broader entertainment business said they think donations to Biden’s campaign will slow following his performance against former President Donald Trump, the FT reported.
Prior to the debate, Jeffrey Katzenberg called Biden’s age his “superpower.”
In a Reuters interview last year, he described Biden as “energetic” and “effective,” and suggested Republican attacks on his age will backfire.
“President Biden’s age is, in fact, his superpower,” Katzenberg said. “I think people have tried to paint it as a liability or a negative and I think they are going to fail at that because his age is his knowledge and experience and as he has said, it is his wisdom.”
Katzenberg is now facing a growing number of Hollywood defectors from Team Biden.
As Breitbart News reported, mega Hollywood donors are starting to turn on Biden, telling Democrats that they will not be donating money if the 81-year-old stays in the race.
Among those calling for Biden to step down are Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, and Lost creator Damon Lindelof.
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