In a matter of months, Joe Biden will finally vacate the Oval Office. Try not to throw a party just yet. After years of runaway inflation, a border crisis that no one seems willing to fix, crime waves in our cities, and foreign policy blunders that have weakened America’s standing, the Biden era is, thankfully, nearing its end.
Even his own party, once unified around his so-called “Build Back Better” agenda, is keeping its distance. Who can blame them? Running on Biden’s record would be a political death wish. Slowly but surely, former allies have backed away, unable to defend his disastrous handling of issues from the economy to international diplomacy. And now, Biden’s presidency is ending with one last embarrassing twist — he’s struggling to fund his own presidential library.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Biden’s team can’t seem to rally enough financial support to build his presidential library, a tradition that has been privately funded since FDR. It’s an honor past presidents have taken pride in, a legacy preserved for generations to study. But Biden? He can’t even muster the donor enthusiasm to hit his target of $200 to $300 million.
And here’s the clincher: even big-name Democratic donors are steering clear. Steve Richetti, Biden’s right-hand man on the project, is hitting one closed door after another. It turns out Biden’s habit of shunning his party’s donor class — refusing to woo them with White House perks — has come back to bite him. Democrats are holding back their wallets, watching to see how the 2024 election plays out. And it’s no mystery why they’re hesitant; no one wants to pour millions into preserving a legacy packed with political baggage.
The snags run deeper than just empty pockets. According to the Journal, some major Democratic donors, already frustrated with Biden’s leadership, backed out after watching his approval plummet. For instance, high-profile donor Abigail Disney reportedly walked away following Biden’s abysmal performance in June’s televised debates. She’s not alone.
Sure, Biden’s team claims prestigious universities like Syracuse and the University of Delaware are eager to host his papers, but without steady donations, this presidential library may end up more pipe dream than reality.
If they do manage to scrape together the funds, Biden’s “legacy” itself is still shaky at best. His presidency, initially marketed as a return to “normalcy” after the Trump era, spiraled into chaos instead. Under Biden’s leadership, inflation soared, crime surged, and the border crisis worsened. For future historians, any library bearing Biden’s name might serve as a cautionary tale rather than a monument.
Let’s not forget his dismal foreign policy record, which promised to restore America’s global respect. Instead, Biden’s fumbling on the world stage has emboldened adversaries like China and Russia, while our allies look on in disbelief. His foreign policy moves, from poorly executed military decisions to indecisive leadership, haven’t exactly inspired confidence. If the library ever gets built, historians will have plenty of material to dissect what went wrong.
And about those mega-donors? Even they aren’t exactly lining up. One would think Biden’s decades in public service would draw support, but the Democratic money machine is keeping its distance. Biden’s presidency simply hasn’t been the fundraising magnet Democrats had hoped for, and now his library project is feeling the pinch.
Despite Biden’s team name-dropping potential sites like Syracuse and Delaware, it’s all just talk until the money’s in hand. At the end of the day, Biden’s career has been far from donor-friendly, and his presidential track record hasn’t helped.
