Multimillionaire Obamas Haven’t Donated to Joe Biden’s Campaign
The former first couple has repeatedly shunned their former colleague. Why?
Barack H. Obama and his wife Michelle became fabulously wealthy after leaving the White House in 2017. For whatever reason, they haven't given a single dollar of their massive fortune to Joe Biden's presidential campaign.
President Obama has hosted virtual fundraisers for his former running mate and urged Democrats to give "any amount you can" to Biden's campaign. Michelle addressed the virtual Democratic convention on Monday, but didn't even show her arms. Barack is scheduled to give the primetime address on Wednesday night. But neither have personally contributed a dime to Biden's campaign, according to federal election records.
It's not as if they can't afford it. The power couple received a joint book advance worth as much as $65 million for their post-White House memoirs. (Barack still hasn't finished writing.) They also inked a deal with Netflix worth more than $50 million.
The Obamas have used their giant piles of money to make a difference in the world by promoting economic justice. For example, in 2019 they purchased a waterfront mansion on Martha's Vineyard for $11.8 million. Two years earlier, they bought a mansion in Washington, D.C., for $8.1 million.
No one thinks that the Obamas want Donald Trump to be president. But whether or not they actually want Joe Biden to be president is a different story. According to media reports, Barack has repeatedly tried to discourage his former VP from running for president.
According to Politico, Biden recalls that as he considered a presidential campaign in 2016, his former boss "was not encouraging." Obama adviser David Plouffe urged him "not to end his career in embarrassment." The New York Times reported that Obama "quietly pressured Mr. Biden to sit out the race, partly because he believed Mrs. Clinton had a better chance of building on his agenda." That didn't turn out so well.
Biden sought Obama's guidance again before entering the race in 2020, but his former boss wasn't any more encouraging the second time around. "You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t," Obama reportedly told Biden in 2019.
https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/obama-biden-donation/