- Mike Novogratz said he was Rep. Dean Phillips in the Democratic primaries
- “I worked hard in 2020” for Biden, Novogratz told CNBC. This time: 'I think he's too old. I think Trump is too old too. We need new people'
- Phillips is trailing Biden in the polls for the Democratic presidential nomination
A billionaire crypto investor and longtime supporter of Joe Biden is switching his allegiance to Dean Phillips in the 2024 White House elections, citing the president's advancing age.
Mike Novogratz, the CEO of GalaxyInvestment Partners, a cryptocurrency-focused company, said the country needs “new people.”
“I worked hard in 2020” for Biden, Novogratz said CNBC. This time: 'I think he's too old. I think Trump is too old too. We need new people.'
Biden turned 81 in November. Donald Trump, who is leading in the polls for the Republican presidential candidate, will turn 78 next June.
Mike Novogratz, the CEO of GalaxyInvestment Partners, a cryptocurrency-focused company, said he has met Rep. Dean Phillips will endorse in the Democratic presidential primary
Novogratz donated $200,000 to support Biden's 2020 campaign and the Democratic National Committee, and more than $1 million to Defeat By Tweet, a super political action committee that opposed Trump.
He will co-host a fundraiser for Phillips in New York on Saturday at the home of David Barry, the president and CEO of Urby, a real estate company.
Novogratz, 59, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, has a net worth of $1.5 billion.
He told CNBC that he views Phillips as a smart centrist with a strong business record.
In October, Phillips, a Minnesota representative who is not well known nationally, launched his waiver bid against Biden.
Meanwhile, Novogratz also said he plans to meet with Republican candidate Nikki Haley next month as he weighs whether or not to help her defeat Trump in the race for the Republican nomination.
A Biden campaign spokesman said he did not know Novogratz.
“I don't know who that is, but we appreciate his support of the president and wish him the best,” Biden campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo said in a statement to CNBC.
President Joe Biden, 81, has faced questions about his age; he is the oldest elected president in American history
Representative Dean Phillips trailed Joe Biden by 69 points in a November poll
Biden, the oldest president in American history, has faced questions about his mental and physical health. His doctor has declared him healthy and fit to become president.
But polls show that Americans are concerned about his age in a way that they are not concerned about Trump's, who is just three years younger than Biden.
An Associated Press poll in August found 77% saying Biden was too old to be effective in a second term.
Phillips also referenced Biden's age as he announced his decision to challenge the president in the Democratic primary. It has a steep climb. A Morning Consult poll in November showed him trailing Biden by 69 points.
He pointed to the Washington Examiner that both Biden and Trump would be well into their 80s by the end of their terms if elected.
He also noted that numerous polls show deep public concern about both men, adding, “They don't want either of them in the White House.”
“There is a huge appetite for change,” Phillips said. 'A substantial desire to turn the page and what I call the frustration of the exhausted majority at the arguments, the dysfunction and the nonsense, and the search for someone who has not been part of it, are not the cause of that, and they want someone else. '