Panic over Joe Biden’s debate performance isn’t preventing billionaires from flocking to his Hamptons fundraiser at a $147 million beachfront home this weekend — but their only hope is that Biden will offer a “better performance,” sources told The Post.
“We have no choice but to believe Biden will redeem himself. The alternative is so unthinkable,” a source attending the Saturday event said. “I’m going and everyone I know is still going.”
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said he would remain loyal to Biden: “I go home with the girl I brought to the dance.”
While he acknowledged voters “might not be excited [about Biden] … at the end of the day, this is where we are.”
Another longtime donor who is skipping the afternoon shindig told The Post that, “Everyone going [to the fundraiser] is extremely disappointed. Everyone paid in advance… so it could be an opportunity to encourage him to drop out.”
While multiple sources told The Post they are “sticking with Biden,” the longtime donor noted that Jill Biden may receive a frosty reception at the event. “Lots of people are blaming his wife … for not telling him [to step aside].”
One democratic advisor added that “Jill Biden likes being First Lady… she doesn’t want to give that up.”
The President is planning a swing through the ritzy enclave of East Hampton after visiting New York City Friday to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Stone Wall Inn riots with Elton John and attend a fundraiser at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
Biden will join hedge fund manager Barry Rosentein and his wife Lizanne at their sprawling 18-acre oceanfront property in East Hampton — a home that set a record for most expensive residential real estate sale when the Rosensteins bought it in 2014.
Clinton allies Nicole and Michael Fox, hedge fund titan Eric Mindich and his Tony award winning producer wife Stacey, celebrity duo Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and actor Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan and are all on the host committee for the event and have shelled out as much as $250,000 for the privilege of meeting the president, according to a report in the East Hampton Press.
There are a variety of tiers for tickets, starting at $3,300. A $30,000 “champion” ticket gets you a photo with the president and “preferred seating” at the event and a $100,000 “co-host” ticket gets you a photo for two and preferred seating.
It’s unclear how many tickets have been sold, but one attendee told The Post he had secured his spot just earlier this week and that tickets were still up for sale.
Despite reports of upheaval among Democrats over Biden’s debate performance, the president has said he remains committed to staying in the race. According to one CNN report, he is vowing to return for the second scheduled debate, in September.
A spokesperson for the Biden campaign declined to comment.
Other less political Hamptonites told The Post they are less concerned about Biden’s political future and more about his visit imposing a “temporary flight restriction” over Long Island.
“He screwed up my weekend plans.”
