Big donors turn on Biden. Quietly.

Wealthy Democratic donors who believe a different nominee would be the party’s best chance to hold the White House are increasingly gritting their teeth in silence about President Joe Biden, fearful that any move against him could backfire.

As of late Tuesday, the party’s moneyed class was carefully monitoring post-debate poll results and the positioning of elected Democrats for signs that support for Biden was cracking.

Earlier moves by donors to mount their own campaigns to pressure Biden to step down as the party’s presidential candidate have either fizzled out or prompted pushback from fellow contributors and operatives.

The deadlock reflects a broader paralysis within the party about how to handle a fraught situation that could inflame intraparty rifts, alienate key constituencies, damage personal relationships and benefit a Republican candidate most of the donors believe poses a threat to democracy.

The dynamic started taking shape mere hours after the debate.

At a breakfast on Friday morning at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado, where nearly 50 Democratic donors had gathered for a preplanned meeting convened by the super political action committee American Bridge, one person asked the crowd for a show of hands of how many thought Biden should step aside. Nearly everyone in the room raised their hands, according to two people present.

Some members of the Democracy Alliance network of liberal financiers proposed a public statement calling on Biden to stand down, setting off a vigorous debate among some members of the group, with some floating their dream tickets. But the group’s board met after the debate and decided to maintain its support for Biden, according to a person briefed on the decision.

On a private email list including members of another liberal donor collective called Way to Win, participants expressed frustration with the Democratic Party’s circling of the wagons around Biden and urged that Vice President Kamala Harris be considered for the top spot on the ticket.

A small private online poll distributed after the debate to liberal donors and their advisers found that of dozens of respondents, more than 70% indicated that they were “ready to explore Plan B.”

And on Wall Street, some of Biden’s wealthiest past backers — including Seth Klarman, the billionaire CEO of the hedge fund Baupost and a sharp critic of former President Donald Trump — have privately discussed whether to look beyond Biden, according to two people briefed on his thinking.

On Tuesday, both American Bridge and the Democracy Alliance hosted calls for donors anxious about the situation. Of the more than a dozen donors who spoke on the Bridge call, only one argued that the party should stick with Biden, according to a participant. Others expressed a desire to move on.

And next week, the dilemma is expected to be a hot topic on the sidelines of the annual meeting of CEOs at the Allen &Co. summit in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to a person close to several major donors.

The deliberations among wealthy Democrats, detailed in more than two dozen interviews as well as in written communications reviewed by The New York Times, only intensified as the Biden campaign and the party establishment formed a protective wall around him in the days after the debate.

The party’s aggressive defense of Biden scared off donors from publicly calling for his replacement, said Maggie Kulyk, owner of a wealth management firm and a board member of the Women Donors Network.

“Toeing this line makes us look almost, but not quite, as morally bankrupt as the Republican Party,” she said. “I mean, c’mon, man! Know when to say when.”

Kulyk added that donor coalitions might be timid about calling out Biden because they do not want to alienate donors “who feel strongly that we just need to stay the course.”

But, she said, “I don’t think the wall is very strong,” adding, “If a few voices came out, it could all come apart. And in my mind, I think that’s what needs to happen.”

Donor support is one of the indicators being closely watched to gauge whether Biden will be able to survive the mounting doubts caused by his weak debate performance.