The letter was compiled by the Leadership Now Project, a group founded in 2018 in response to growing concerns about threats to democratic norms. A person familiar with the effort, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations, said the letter was delivered to several White House advisers.
Signatories include Christy Walton, daughter-in-law of the billionaire founder of Walmart, former NFL commissioner Paul J. Tagliabue, billionaire investor Mike Novogratz, former Google executive Ning Mosberger-Tang, Warburg Pincus managing director Harsha Maruti, Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, New York University professor and podcaster Scott Galloway, Waco Group CEO Tom Florsheim, former Army Secretary Louis Caldera, and hedge fund investor Kevin Brennan of Bridgewater Associates. Vicki Hausmann, CEO of Forward Majority, a group that supports Democrats in state legislative elections, also signed the letter.
Daniella Barrow-Arles, CEO of the Leadership Now Project, who worked in the Obama administration, declined to comment on the letter on Friday. The group released an unsigned statement on Wednesday calling for Biden to resign.
“Our biggest concern is that the former president [Donald] “Trump poses risks to our economy, our national security and the rule of law,” Baru Ahles said during a CNN appearance Thursday. “We've been consulting with members of the House and Senate and we've expressed our concerns.”
She said she expected all of the group's members to continue supporting Biden against Trump if he remains the nominee, and that he is far more likely to lose than win if he remains the nominee.
The White House referred a request for comment to the Biden campaign, which responded with a statement about the president's achievements and Trump's unfitness for office.
“While economists warn that President Trump would accelerate inflation and push the economy into a recession, President Biden's policies will continue to lower costs and boost job growth. For those who want America to succeed, the choice in this election couldn't be clearer,” said Biden campaign spokesman Charles Luttwak.
The group's letter, submitted Friday, praised Biden's decades of public service.
“As members of the Leadership Now Project, and as like-minded business and civic leaders committed to protecting American democracy, we have spoken out about the threats posed by a second term for Donald Trump. The risks to America are serious: global and domestic instability, the abandonment of our allies, crony capitalism, political retaliation, and further erosion of the rights of women and other groups,” the letter said.
“At this crucial moment for our nation, the time has come to cement your legacy by passing the baton, as George Washington did,” the letter added.
