What Happens If Hollywood Cuts Biden's Campaign Budget?

George Clooney, the renowned Hollywood actor, has urged Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race in November, where Donald Trump is his Republican opponent, in an op-ed for the New York Times. Clooney, a major financial supporter of the Democratic Party, wrote, "It pains me to say this, but the Joe Biden I saw three weeks ago at a fundraising event was not at all the Joe Biden of 2010 or even 2020." At this event, over $30 million was raised for Biden in a single night, setting a record for Democratic fundraising by the powerful entertainment industry in the country. Clooney emphasized Biden's age, stating, "There is no issue other than age. We will not win with this candidate in November." This op-ed, which dealt a serious blow to Biden's campaign, was published after his "disastrous" performance in a televised debate with Donald Trump, raising serious doubts about the Democrats' chances against the Republican nominee. Now, if Hollywood, a key financial pillar for the Democrats, cuts Biden's campaign budget, what will happen? This question is significant as it seems that following Clooney's request and that of other wealthy entertainment supporters for the U.S. President to withdraw from the race for the White House, this possibility has been strengthened. Steve Ross, a history professor at the University of Southern California who has written a book on Hollywood's impact on American politics, says, "If all major donors exit Biden's campaign, he will sink. Hollywood is still one of the centers for gathering votes for candidates." Clooney is not the only one concerned about the fate of the Democratic campaign. Recently, others like Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, Abigail, the granddaughter of the founder of Walt Disney Company, and Ari Emanuel, a powerful Hollywood figure whose brother Rahm served as Barack Obama's Chief of Staff, have announced that they will not financially support Biden due to concerns about his age. Historically, while millions of dollars raised by the American entertainment industry are essential for both major parties in the U.S., Hollywood's heart and wallet have leaned predominantly to the left for decades. Bill and Hillary Clinton both relied on Hollywood support during their White House campaigns. In 2007, Barack Obama notably benefited from the "influence" of television show host Oprah Winfrey, one of America's most famous television personalities, who significantly supported him by organizing a dinner party when he was just a senator. According to the non-profit organization OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign financing, during the 2020 presidential race, the American entertainment industry contributed $104 million to Democrats and $13 million to Republicans. However, this has not always been the case. In the 1980s, Republican President Ronald Reagan, who was once an actor himself, received support from stars like Frank Sinatra and heavily relied on Hollywood's treasury. Steve Ross told AFP, "Hollywood actually started as a conservative base for the Republican Party." He noted that Louis B. Mayer, the founder of MGM, turned the company into a fundraising branch for Republicans in the late 1920s, raising a significant amount of money for them. However, on the other hand, the Warner Brothers supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, in the 1930s. The election of John F. Kennedy in 1960 led Hollywood to lean towards the left in American politics, as the era of actors suspected of sympathizing with communism being blacklisted had ended. Hollywood's inclination towards the left occurred during a new era of free speech for movie stars, where "if they said something that seemed too radical, they would no longer be blacklisted." But even with cultural and financial capabilities, does Hollywood really have the power to remove Biden from the race? Steven Maviglio, a Democratic consultant who has worked with former California Governor Gray Davis, says Clooney's op-ed in the New York Times "is certainly a pressure point." However, he believes the panic among some major donors to Biden's campaign regarding his condition is merely "a temporary phenomenon." Maviglio stated, "If the President decides to stay and it becomes clear that the race will be between Biden and Trump, Hollywood will return to the same point it started from and will support Biden." Now, all eyes are on Jeffrey Katzenberg, a billionaire and former Disney executive and co-founder of DreamWorks, who organized the gala and fundraising event for Biden in June. Katzenberg, who has faced severe criticism since Biden's disastrous debate, has yet to break his silence. Maviglio described Katzenberg as "the engine behind the machine" and noted that "the potential halt of this engine will be significant."