Alex Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros, has issued a warning to Democrats about the presidential election ahead of a pivotal press conference for President Joe Biden.
Democrats remain divided about whether Biden should step aside from the race after his debate performance against Donald Trump last month. Sounding hoarse, Biden, 81, stumbled through several answers and appeared to lose his train of thought at times, doing little to quell already existing concerns about his age.
An increasing number of high-profile Democrats, including several members of Congress, have urged Biden to withdraw from the race, arguing that another candidate, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, would be better suited to run against Trump. Some are waiting to see how Biden handles a press conference about the NATO summit on Thursday evening.
Polls show that Trump holds a lead over Biden, as well as other Democratic candidates, with less than four months until November's election.
However, Biden has rejected those calls, saying that he plans to stay in the race and that he is the strongest candidate the party has. Most high-profile Democrats, including those who have been floated as potential replacements, have doubled down on their support for the president.
Meanwhile, Alex Soros, the chair of the nonprofit Open Society Foundations (OSF), took to X (formerly Twitter), to urge Democrats to unite around Biden.
"Let's stop running against ourselves and run against the existential threat that is Donald Trump! Biden-Harris 2024!" he posted.
Newsweek reached out to Soros for further comment via his online contact form.
On Thursday, Biden is hosting his first solo press conference since the debate and this year. He'll be fielding questions from the media, which are likely to center around criticism of his age and mental acuity. Biden's answers will be heavily scrutinized and if he falters during the press conference, it could call his ability to remain the nominee into question.
His father, George, 92, is a longtime donor to Democratic candidates and progressive causes and has long been a target for Republican attacks. A Jewish Hungarian immigrant who survived the Holocaust as a child, the father has frequently been the target of far-right and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Alex Soros was elected chairman of the OSF board in December 2022. He told The Wall Street Journal in June 2023 that he is "more political" than his father. He has visited the White House at least a dozen times since Biden took office in January 2021.
"As much as I would love to get money out of politics, as long as the other side is doing it, we will have to do it too," he told the newspaper.
He also told the Journal that he believes Democrats should be more clear while delivering their messages, as well as "more patriotic and inclusive," to win over voters.
His remarks come as Biden continues to face concerns and questions about his political future. Post-debate polls have offered mixed news for the president. He still trails Trump in most swing states, but some surveys suggest the debate has not substantially hurt his standing in the race.
Still, a growing number of Democrats are calling for him to stand down. Representative Pat Ryan, a New York Democrat representing a competitive congressional district, is among those who believe he should withdraw.
"Trump is an existential threat to American democracy; it is our duty to put forward the strongest candidate against him. Joe Biden is a patriot but is no longer the best candidate to defeat Trump," he said on his X account.
"For the good of our country, I am asking Joe Biden to step aside — to deliver on his promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders," Ryan wrote.
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Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
