Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher

US President Joe Biden used the opening of the NATO summit in Washington DC on July 9 to reassure member states that he can fight off an election challenge from Donald Trump. Nonetheless, Democratic Party donors are already writing off the presidential election and want another candidate.

Although Biden defiantly spoke for about 13 minutes at the NATO summit and delusionally said, “Russia will not prevail; Ukraine will prevail,” visiting diplomats expressed scepticism about Biden’s leadership capabilities.

“We don't see how he can come back after the debate,” one unnamed European envoy told Reuters news agency. “I can’t imagine him being at [the] helm of the US and NATO for four more years.”

Politico spoke to several fundraisers and donors who said they do not believe that President Joe Biden will triumph over Donald Trump in the November elections. Therefore, they said, they are thinking about where else to invest their money.

“The events of recent days have put at risk House and Senate Democrats, and we feel it around the country,” said a New York Democratic donor on condition of anonymity.

“Clearly, Democratic donors are looking at down-ballot candidates to try to salvage the House or Senate,” the source added.

The president has said that he will not withdraw from the presidential race and insists that he is the strongest political figure in his party to win the election. However, more than 70% of Americans believe Biden’s mental state is unfit for a second term, according to a CBS News poll conducted after the June 28 debate.

Several Democratic lawmakers, including Jerry Nadler and Joe Morelle, a representative from New York, have already urged Biden not to accept the presidential nomination due to his advanced age.

A New York fundraiser working with Democratic and Republican donors and speaking on the condition of anonymity said that the ruling party has been in “a tizzy” since Biden’s disastrous debate with Trump, whilst Republicans are elated and predicting a red wave.

“The feeling is that the problems at the top will drag everything else completely under: local, state, federal, everything,” the fundraiser told Politico.

The New York Times also reported a few days ago that some of the Biden campaign’s top donors are quietly pressuring the Democratic Party to replace Biden with someone else for the presidential election after support for the president plummeted after the debate with Trump. According to the newspaper, in various private meetings of Democratic donors, many favour Biden resigning and being replaced by someone capable of facing the Republican candidate.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported, citing sources familiar with the issue, that major Democratic donors have chosen Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom as their favourite candidates to succeed Biden in the presidential race.

“Biden’s candidacy is doomed,” a donor and fundraiser close to the president told the British outlet. “I’m Joe's biggest fan, he's an admirable public servant but he's condemned (...) we have to start concentrating on what comes next.”

Even major figures in the Democratic Party, such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schummer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have held crisis talks with big donors to gauge their mood, the FT notes, citing donors and fundraisers.

“You’re starting to see a lot of frustration among donors and the pressure is mounting to turn the page and start focusing on finding the right candidate to win against Trump,” one New York fundraiser told the paper. “Everybody is talking to their contacts to make sure we are ready to back the right candidate as soon as Biden steps down.”

Some donors have warned that any move to replace Biden with one of the governors could spark a “civil war” among Democrats, warning that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a less controversial choice. According to The Washington Post, despite having a popularity level as low as Biden’s, current Vice President Kamala Harris could be considered a replacement.

Another party figure who has emerged as an option is Pete Buttigieg, the current Secretary of Transportation. However, The Washington Post claims that he has little chance of attracting the diversity vote since, for example, he obtained little support from the African-American community.

The current president’s poor performance during the debate, which included stammering and blanking out at times, has clearly generated concern among the Democrats regarding the future of the president's candidacy. However, Biden, as his speech at the NATO Summit opening indicates, appears to have no plans to abandon the presidential race

Seventy-seven percent of registered voters who watched the debate said Trump performed better, while only 33% of respondents reported Biden won the debate, according to a CNN poll. The two will debate again on September 10 in an event moderated by ABC News, and if there is a repeat of the June debate, it will all but likely secure Trump’s return to the White House.