Joe Biden Asks Billionaire Republican Donor For Money, Gets Rejected

Here we are, folks, via CNBC:

Democratic front runner Joe Biden on Monday appealed to a billionaire Republican donor for fundraising help in his presidential campaign. But the financier, Trump-supporting New York supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis, declined.

Biden spoke to Catsimatidis, who has an estimated net worth of $3.1 billion, for about 10 minutes at a fundraiser held at the New York home of short seller Jim Chanos, according to the businessman. When Biden asked for his help, “I just smiled,” Catsimatidis said.

As noted on Twitter, this was just hours after Biden appeared at the Poor People’s Campaign, an appearance that went…strangely:

Biden’s Poor People’s Campaign appearance was weird af. pic.twitter.com/lvM9E4xmnU

— Brook Hines (@nashville_brook) June 18, 2019

And while we could frame this as another of Biden’s famous gaffes, the more important angle is that Biden can’t seem to free himself from the shackles of his own conservativism, and his bizarre fetish for reaching across the aisle to a group of people that—like Catsimatidis—have rejected, continue to reject him, and will reject him into the future. How can you hope to accomplish any progressive goals when the allies you covet the most will fight against those goals until their dying breaths? How can you expect to be taken seriously by your constituents when you vow to fight for them, and then, hours later, beg for money from the ideological opposition.

I mean, this is the guy he’s asking:

On this great day of Trump kicking off his 2020 Campaign in Orlando

I want to make it clear…

Me and my family are supporting @realdonaldtrump 100%

We are fighting for the soul of America!

— John Catsimatidis (@JCats2013) June 18, 2019

Money is money, sure, but don’t principles mean anything? And shouldn’t we all be a little alarmed that this guy is the Democratic frontrunner?