A Biden donor calls it quits

Dec 06, 2023

By Lauren Egan, Myah Ward and Benjamin Johansen

Presented by

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada.

Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren

Democratic donor and humanitarian AMED KHAN is done with President JOE BIDEN.

A bundler for Biden’s 2020 campaign, Khan has decided to quit the Biden Victory Fund National Finance Committee over the president’s handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Khan won’t show up for next week’s winter donor retreat in Washington, D.C., nor will he attend holiday receptions at the White House and the vice president’s residence.

Khan has worked via his private foundations and aid organizations on the frontlines of numerous conflicts including those in Ukraine and Rwanda. But he said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is one of the worst crises that he’s witnessed (he’s visited Rafah since the conflict started). As Khan views it, the Biden administration has dropped the ball. It’s failed to meaningfully push Israel to minimize civilian casualties and has stood behind Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU even as his government has engaged in what Khan describes as “ethnic cleansing on the way to genocide.”

“This is bullshit,” Khan said in a call with West Wing Playbook. “You make moral compromises being involved in politics and ethical shortcuts, but this is just a bridge too far.”

Although Khan has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democrats in previous election cycles, he admits that he doesn’t have the limitless wealth as top-tier Biden donors. His decision to stop raising money will not kneecap Biden’s campaign. But he hopes it serves as a wakeup call to the White House and forces others in the Democratic Party to think more critically about Biden’s approach to the conflict.

And Khan might not be the last to walk away from the finance committee. Other Arab and Muslim American donors have also been weighing what role they want to play in Biden’s reelection as the death count in Gaza continues to rise.

HALA HIJAZI, a Democratic donor and fundraiser who attended the White House’s Eid al-Fitr celebration earlier this year, told POLITICO’s HOLLY OTTERBEIN that she was considering leaving the Biden finance network over frustration with his handling of the war, particularly after several of her family members were killed in Gaza. “I feel betrayed,” she said.

A senior Biden campaign adviser said donors take issue with the president’s policy decisions every cycle. And while some big-dollar donors have complained about Biden’s response to the war, many have also applauded the way he has navigated the crisis.

The adviser also said Democratic donors have coalesced around the Biden campaign in recent months and expect to finish the fourth quarter in a stronger than anticipated position. Biden will raise more than $15 million in a five-day fundraising swing that started yesterday, and November also marked the campaign’s most successful small-donor month since it launched, according to a person familiar with the campaign’s operations.

“I’m sorry there’s a few folks on the finance committee that are frustrated,” said BRYAN RAFANELLI, a national finance committee member who hosted Biden on Tuesday at a 25-person fundraiser in Boston. “We had the complete opposite [at our event]. It was people saying to me — before I even said anything — ‘this is a hard moment for the president and we’re happy with what he’s doing.’”

The frustration over the president’s response might be shared by just a relatively small group of Biden donors. But it reflects a dynamic playing out within the party as Arab and Muslim American voters alongside younger voters have expressed deep disappointment with the president.

Biden allies maintain the president is hamstrung in how much he can criticize Israel publicly in order to still have influence behind-the-scenes with Netanyahu. There’s also a sense among Biden staffers that despite frustrations from some members of the party, the president is playing the politics correctly — especially when voters are likely going to be faced with a choice next November between Biden and former President DONALD TRUMP.

But for Khan, that argument is no longer enough.

“‘But Trump’ isn’t the answer,” said Khan. “What does that even mean? He would be worse? How? There would be 8,002 children dead right now instead of 8,001? I don’t get it.”

“I’m without a home at this point politically,” he said.

MESSAGE US — Are you A WHITE HOUSE INTERN? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.

Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!

A message from Keep the Promise Coalition:

President Biden, keep your promise to Native Tribes! Secretary Haaland is considering a decision that would pit some of our country’s most marginalized communities against each other and irreparably deprive several Tribes of significant revenues. A bipartisan coalition of senators, representatives, and governors, along with local elected officials and Tribal leaders, strongly oppose this decision, which would harm Tribes and open the floodgates for an explosion of gaming across the country. Read More.

POTUS PUZZLER

Which president, citing the boat’s annual upkeep costs as a concern, sold the official presidential yacht at an auction?

(Answer at bottom.)

The Oval

PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE: President Biden on Wednesday called on Republican lawmakers to pass his $106 billion supplemental spending plan, saying that he would make “significant compromises” on border policy in exchange for Ukraine and Israel funding, our JENNIFER HABERKORN reports.

As the Senate gears up to take a vote tonight on the president’s proposal, which Republicans will likely filibuster over border policy, Biden highlighted the stakes: “We can’t let Putin win. It’s in our overwhelming national interest, in the international interest of all our friends.”

A NEW BREED OF INTERNS: In a letter addressed to Biden and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, a group of White House interns urged the administration to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, NBC’s JONATHAN ALLEN reports. The group of over 40 anonymous Biden administration interns said that the pleas of the American people have “been heard and thus far, ignored.”

“While the Administration expressed support for the humanitarian pause, we maintain that anything other than a complete halt of Israel’s mass slaughter of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip will simply not suffice,” the interns wrote.

We all love our interns. But, well, we’ll just applaud the ~~gumption~~ initiative.

CALL IT WHAT IT IS: On Wednesday, the White House responded to the remarks from presidents at Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania during Tuesday’s congressional hearing on antisemitism. The trio had been asked by Rep. ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.) whether or not calling for the genocide of Jewish people violated the school’s code of conduct on bullying or harassment, to which each responded that it would depend on context and whether speech turns into conduct.

Deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES said in a statement, “It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Spectrum News’ KEVIN FREY, REENA DIAMANTE, and MADDIE GANNON, who sat down with both the top Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs committee, Chair MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-Texas) and ranking member GREGORY MEEKS (D-N.Y.). Both members urged the rest of Congress to pass the president’s supplemental spending bill, echoing Biden’s remarks today that time is running out.

“I would caution my colleagues that the clock is ticking and time is running out. And it's very dangerous,” McCaul said. Principal deputy press secretary OLIVIA DALTON shared the interview on X and said, “If you don’t want to take it from us.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by CNN’s ARIEL EDWARDS-LEVY, who highlights a new poll showing Biden's job approval drop since last year. Edwards-Levy writes that Biden started the year with a 45 percent job approval rating, but the new poll shows his approval rating standing at 37 percent, with 63 percent disapproving, “a downtick that leaves him facing his worst numbers since taking office by 1 percentage point.”

Edwards-Levy writes that economic concerns are driving the president’s approval rating down. Four in 10 Americans surveyed say they are “seriously concerned rising costs could push them out of their own communities,” and that the economy is the most pressing issue facing the country.

AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION: ANDERSON COOPER released an interview Wednesday with Biden for his podcast “All There Is.” Cooper described the discussion as “the first time any sitting U.S. president has agreed to do an entire interview solely focused on grief.” And while Biden is not the only president to experience personal tragedy, “none have been willing to share so much about it publicly, particularly when they were in office,” Cooper said.

It's a moving conversation. Cooper opened up about his brother’s suicide in 1988 and Biden shared his experience about losing his two kids and first wife.

SUBSCRIBE TO CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes.

THE BUREAUCRATS

PERSONNEL MOVES: CAROLINE CHANG has been promoted to be deputy assistant national cyber director for stakeholder engagement at the White House, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She most recently was senior adviser to the national cyber director.

A message from Keep the Promise Coalition:

Agenda Setting

GET THOSE CIGGIES WHILE YOU CAN (NOT THAT YOU SHOULD!): The Biden administration is further delaying a long-awaited and controversial ban on menthol cigarettes, WaPo’s DAN DIAMOND and DAVID OVALLE report. Administration officials say that the ban could anger Black voters who use the product and hurt the president’s reelection campaign. The administration is hoping to finalize the law in March, which would lead to menthol cigarettes being taken off the market. But still, officials say the ban could be delayed further past the election year. The administration had previously expected to finalize the rules by August 2023.

“High-profile opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union and some prominent civil rights figures such as the Rev. AL SHARPTON, assert that a ban would foster an underground market, leading police to disproportionately target smokers who are Black,” they write.

A WIN FOR NATIVE AMERICANS: During a tribal nations summit on Wednesday, the president signed an executive order making it easier for Native Americans to access federal funds, AP’s COLLEEN YOUNG, SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and HALLIE GOLDEN report. Domestic policy adviser NEERA TANDEN said that Native Americans have faced barriers in “fully exercising their inherent sovereignty,” often at the hands of the way the government administrators funds.

“The order in part creates a clearinghouse for Native American tribes to find and access federal funding, and it requests that federal agencies ensure that funding is accessible and equitable,” they write.

GET A BACKSTAGE PASS TO COP28 WITH GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Get insider access to the conference that sets the tone of the global climate agenda with POLITICO's Global Playbook newsletter. Authored by Suzanne Lynch, Global Playbook delivers exclusive, daily insights and comprehensive coverage that will keep you informed about the most crucial climate summit of the year. Dive deep into the critical discussions and developments at COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. SUBSCRIBE NOW.

What We're Reading

Why These Progressives Stopped Helping Biden (The Atlantic’s Russell Berman)

Targeting costly meds, Biden admin asserts authority to seize certain drug patents (POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn)

Berks County woman named Time’s 2023 Person of the Year (Philadelphia Inquirer’s Emily Bloch)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

President JIMMY CARTER in 1977 sold the USS Sequoia for $286,000, disturbed over the boat’s $250,000 annual upkeep. It also came as a part of Carter’s campaign promise, which was to cut back on the extravagance of the presidency.

“Despite its distinguished career, I feel that the Presidential yacht Sequoia is no longer needed,” Carter wrote in a memo.

Thanks to NBC’s ALEX SEITZ-WALD for the question!

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.

A message from Keep the Promise Coalition:

President Biden, keep your promise to Native Tribes! The Interior Department is considering a decision that would undermine your historic support of Native communities and commitment to advancing equity—both for and among Tribes.

Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) to support Tribal communities through gaming revenues, while limiting the risks associated with gaming in communities across country. Now, one Tribe wants the Interior to help them circumvent the law and open more casinos, which would not only harm Tribes in Oregon, but open the floodgates for an explosion of gaming across the country. Read More.