Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Funding Companions (L) and President Joe Biden (R).

CNBC | Reuters

Veteran investor and longtime Joe Biden supporter Mike Novogratz is switching sides to fundraise for Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., the president’s lengthy shot major opponent.

Novogratz, the CEO of cryptocurrency-focused Galaxy Investment Partners, will co-host a marketing campaign fundraiser for Phillips on Saturday in New York City on the dwelling of David Barry, the president and CEO of actual property agency Urby, in response to an invite reviewed by CNBC. Invitees are inspired to offer $3,300 to attend.

In 2020, Novogratz donated $200,000 to the Biden Motion Fund, a joint fundraising committee for each the Biden marketing campaign and the Democratic Nationwide Committee, in response to a Federal Election Commission submitting.

Novogratz additionally donated greater than $1 million that 12 months to an excellent PAC referred to as Defeat by Tweet, which sought to make use of Donald Trump’s tweets towards him.

“I worked hard in 2020” for Biden, Novogratz advised CNBC. This time round, “I think he’s too old. I think Trump is too old, too. We need fresh people.” Biden turned 81 in November, whereas Trump turns 78 subsequent June.

Novogratz, 59, views Phillips as a wise centrist with a powerful enterprise file. He additionally plans to satisfy with former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley subsequent month, as he contemplates serving to her defeat Trump.

A Biden marketing campaign spokesman mentioned he did not know Novogratz and wished him properly. “I don’t know who that is but we appreciate his support of the president and wish him the best,” Biden marketing campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo mentioned in a press release. Biden is coming off a profitable West Coast fundraising swing, bringing in over $15 million over the course of just some days.

Novogratz is considered one of a small group of rich Biden supporters who’re in search of an alternative choice to the social gathering’s incumbent. Chamath Palihapitiya, a longtime tech govt, backed Biden in 2020 however publicly soured on him and co-hosted a fundraiser for unbiased Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Novogratz’s considerations about Biden’s age are shared by voters. An August Related Press ballot discovered that 77% of respondents mentioned Biden was too previous to be efficient in a second time period.

Biden’s approval scores are presently round 40%, in response to a November NBC News ballot.

Novogratz has additionally been important of the Biden administration’s stance on cryptocurrency. He just lately claimed at a enterprise summit in Miami that the “Biden administration, the Democratic Party really doesn’t like crypto.”

Nonetheless, even with the help of individuals like Novogratz, Phillips stays a protracted shot candidate for president.

A latest Morning Seek the advice of poll reveals Biden forward of Phillips by 69 share factors.