Red Alert for Democrats: Left-Wing Billionaires Are Backing Out, Refusing to Pay Party Debts
Democratic strategist Julian Epstein acknowledged Friday that Democrats can no longer count on reflexive support from their wealthy liberal donor base, as financial strain and internal disarray continue to plague the party’s national apparatus.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, the Democratic National Committee’s main fundraising arm is sitting on roughly $12 million in cash while carrying nearly $16 million in outstanding debt tied to a recent loan. Appearing on Fox Business’ “Kudlow,” guest host David Asman pressed Epstein on why prominent left-wing billionaires have failed to step in and shore up the DNC’s finances. Epstein argued that the donor silence amounts to a broader repudiation of the party’s current direction.
“I think what we’re seeing with the donor class right now is a lack of confidence, a vote of no confidence in the Democrats. And I think it stems back to a couple things,” Epstein told Asman. “The lie about Biden’s mental health, the incompetency of the Harris campaign, and the fact that all of the data shows that the Democratic Party is deeply out of touch on almost every single economic and social cultural issue.”
Rather than portraying donors as innocent bystanders, Epstein suggested the party’s elite financiers bear responsibility for pushing Democrats away from mainstream voters and toward ideological extremes.
“The irony here, David, is that the donor class is perhaps the most leftist class of the Democratic Party. They are the ones driving the Democratic Party to be out of touch. Now they are withholding their money because they don’t like the results of sort of the far-left drift,” Epstein added. “So I don’t really know where the Democrats go from here. I’ve argued for a Sister Souljah moment, but I don’t think a lot of people are listening to that.”
The DNC’s financial troubles did not materialize overnight. The committee entered the midterm cycle already hobbled by lingering obligations from former Vice President Kamala Harris’s failed 2024 presidential campaign and an evident lack of donor enthusiasm. During that same period, the Republican National Committee—aligned with President Donald J. Trump’s second-term agenda—reported raising $10.7 million in September and holding approximately $86 million in cash. By contrast, the DNC brought in $10.3 million and maintained only about $12 million in reserves.
Much of the current strain traces directly to liabilities carried over from Harris’s abortive White House run, which burned through an estimated $1.5 billion in just over three months. The DNC paid an additional $1.6 million in September to cover campaign-related bills, pushing total payments associated with Harris’s effort beyond $20 million, according to Axios.
The numbers underscore a widening gap not only between Democrats and Republicans, but between Democratic leadership and the donor class that once fueled its operations—raising fresh questions about whether the party can recalibrate or remain stuck in an increasingly costly ideological spiral.