Joe Biden Slammed, Mocked After Soliciting Donations For Presidential Transition
In a Twitter message posted on Friday, Democrat Joe Biden asked his supporters to help fund the presidential transition.
Biden was projected the winner of the 2020 presidential election earlier this month, but President Donald Trump has not yet conceded, which has slowed down the entire procedure.
Biden explicitly blamed Trump for the delay in the process and wrote that “we have to fund it ourselves and need your help.”
The former vice president then asked his supporters to “chip in” if they can and ended the message with a link to an ActBlue donation page.
Journalists, commentators and political activists were quick to take note of Biden’s post, with many slamming and ridiculing the Democrat for soliciting donations during a global pandemic and as tens of millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet.
Assistant editor of The Grayzone News Ben Norton tweeted that the former vice president should solicit donations from individuals on his transition team, many of whom are bankers and have ties to corporate America.
“Such a cynical scam. Joe Biden’s transition team is full of bankers and corporate shills and his campaign is supported by some of the richest billionaires and biggest corporations on Earth.”
The left-leaning Gravel Institute echoed Norton, pointing out that the Democrat enjoys the support of the wealthiest Americans and that he should turn to them for contributions.
“Ask one of the 186 billionaires who funded your campaign instead of people who can’t afford rent this month,” the organization wrote in a tweet.
“Such a greedy, cruel and unserious response to this dangerous moment,” writer Bill Corbett tweeted.
“Please support the Peaceful Transfer of Power Patreon before it gets really impatient and starts a Substack” Washington Post columnist Ishaan Tharoor joked in a tweet.
The Los Angeles arm of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) wrote in a Twitter post that Biden should “stop grifting money from working people.”
The Daily Show‘s Matt Negrin, meanwhile, pointed out that the Biden and his allies insisted during the election that Trump would concede when the time comes, but now claim that donations from ordinary people are necessary to proceed with the process.
Doesn’t really inspire confidence that Biden and his team misread the room on the most predictable thing of 2020 that was telegraphed a million times by the world’s worst secret keeper on camera and quite loudly
— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) November 20, 2020
Biden seems to enjoy the support of the billionaire class. Per Forbes, more than 70 billionaires contributed to his campaign during the general election. Five of his top contributors are worth a combined $160,4 billion, the publication noted.
According to The New York Times, progressive lawmakers and activists have pressured Biden and the Democratic Party to limit corporate influence in his administration. Nonetheless, Biden’s list of White House’s Office of Management and Budget advisers still includes executives from Lyft, Airbnb and Amazon.
