(Bloomberg) -- Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, a co-chair of Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, told the president the patience of his donors is wearing thin, Semafor reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Biden met in Las Vegas Wednesday with Katzenberg and was warned that donors have all but stopped writing big checks. The comments came in a broader discussion of other campaign topics, Semafor said.
Katzenberg cited concerns about Biden’s chances of beating Donald Trump in November, Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the meeting.
Katzenberg didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg News and a Biden campaign spokesperson declined to comment. After Semafor’s story published, Katzenberg issued a statement to the outlet saying the reporting was a “misread of a private meeting” and that he and Biden “talked about everything from the convention to new ads. And by the way, we will raise the money we need to run a winning campaign.”
The president has been under growing pressure from donors and elected Democrats in Washington to withdraw from the campaign following his disastrous performance in a debate against Trump last month.
Biden late Wednesday canceled an event in Las Vegas, with the White House saying he had tested positive for Covid-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms.
--With assistance from Christopher Palmeri and Justin Sink.
(Updates with Katzenberg statement in fourth paragraph)
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