We have certainly heard plenty from the 'Never Trumpers' over the last nine years. Has the shoe shifted to the other unsteady foot? Has Joe Biden's performance as president created enough anger and fear that a similar backlash has emerged on the Left?

Maybe. Eli Lake writes today in the Free Press that a group of big-ticket Democrat donors have decided that the country could survive a Donald Trump revival better than a second Biden term, although they are not likely enthusiastic about either option:

Joe Biden’s threat last week to freeze arms shipments to Israel along with reports that his administration is withholding intelligence about Hamas leaders’ whereabouts has reverberated throughout U.S. politics. Now, some Never Trump donors say the Biden administration’s policy toward the Jewish state is such a betrayal they’re considering jumping on board the Trump train. 

Call it the rise of the Never Bidens, donors who once were more worried about Trump but now see Joe Biden’s bid for a second term the greater threat to America. The Free Press spoke with four donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars in the last election cycle. They say they are reconsidering their political giving in light of the president’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war. All of them expressed their frustration with Biden’s CNN interview last Wednesday, in which he said of Israel, “if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah.”

Cliff Asness, a Republican donor who says he “spent well over seven figures” to support Trump’s primary opponent Nikki Haley, told The Free Press that “My ‘Never Again’ is trumping my ‘Never Trump’ these days.” 

Lake also cites Bill Ackman, who split from Biden months ago over the lack of a firm response to the anti-Semitic intimidation campaigns at Harvard and elsewhere. Ackman has been more direct about his disillusionment with Biden specifically after the clear attempt to bully Israel into a bad deal with Hamas, however. 

Lake also includes Haim Saban, the entertainment mogul that privately rebuked Biden in a letter to Anita Dunn, and which leaked rather serendipitously (and immediately) to the media. Saban hasn't publicly declared himself a Never Biden voter yet, let alone offering a hint about consideration of supporting Trump. However, his letter did offer the ominous warning that "there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters that care about Hamas" [lightly edited].

But is the Never Biden identity a real movement? Three data points may make a pattern, but it's not necessarily a compelling one. Of course, these three data points in particular usually spend a lot of money on Democrats, so having them walk away from Biden -- if they actually do -- is news enough. There are more than three, though, even on the record with Lake. Venture-capital managing partner Michael Granoff has announced that he won't vote for Biden or raise any money for him, although he also won't commit to voting for Trump. Another bundler told Lake anonymously that pro-Israel donors have stopped contributing, and puts the disillusionment point two months earlier in Biden's State of the Union speech, when Biden used Hamas casualty figures to scold Israel for its actions in war.

David Friedman, Trump's ambassador to Israel, tells Lake that the sentiment is widely shared in the traditionally Democrat demo of Jewish voters and donors. Those voices are calling a Trump victory a necessity, Friedman says, and that they are shifting their donor dollars to that effort:

“I think the announcement on Wednesday,” he said referring to Biden’s arms decision, “was the last straw for people who were already leaning very close to going for Trump. He continued, “There is clearly a change going on, people who are active in politics with big money, people who were never Trumpers or reluctant ‘hold your nose Trumpers’ are telling me that Trump has to win.” 

If this is true, then we should be able to suss this out in FEC reports, perhaps sooner than later. It will take some digging, as the volume of both regular and dark money for presidential campaigns go well beyond a firehose analogy and perhaps more of a Niagara Falls level these days. Lake is a very reliable reporter and will almost certainly provide follow-ups to see whether this turns into a trend or just becomes a campaign burp.

The Biden administration is clearly worried about the situation, however, and are trying to keep it at the 'burp' level. That's why the White House is heavily promoting their approval of a billion-plus dollars' of arms to Israel, as Jazz wrote this morning, even though they still are refusing to ship the precision arms that Israel could use to limit civilian casualties in Rafah. They want to eat their cake and have it too with pro-Israel donors, who are unlikely to trust Biden to actually ship the weapons if Israel's war cabinet defies his "Don't!" doctrine again.

It is also likely the reason for another Biden flip-flop today -- agreeing to two televised debates with Donald Trump. For months, Biden and his team have refused to consider the idea, with the argument that Trump is too much of a disgrace to allow him to be on the same stage as Biden. With polls in battleground states pointing to a big loss in November and the rise of Never Bidens, Biden now needs to make the case for a second term ... or at least the case that Trump would be worse. Unfortunately for Biden, he's negating that case every day, and even Democrat institutional donors have figured that out.  

Of course, Biden's debate plan has one saving grace for himself and Democrats -- he's putting the mainstream media in charge of the format and moderation. That's why Team Biden chose to cut out the Commission on Presidential Debates, which already favored the MSM outlets in their policies. Biden likely hopes to get terms to which Trump will refuse to agree and let him off the hook for refusing to debate. But if Trump doesn't take that bait, Biden will count on the MSM to cook the debate in his favor, both on stage and in the coverage that follows.

That means the need for independent voices in the media will be more necessary than ever. Many of our readers have joined the fight as part of our VIP and VIP Gold membership, and they have been crucial to our operations as an independent platform and the ability to debate all of the issues honestly. We also produce some great exclusive content for our members, which you can peruse through our VIP content link above. 

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