A group backed by George Soros has pledged $20 million to help rally support from progressives around President Biden’s $2.2 trillion infrastructure and social welfare proposals.
The Open Society Foundations pledged the $20 million as a start to raise as much as $100 million for the campaign, Axios reported.
“Every initiative proposed by President Biden has broad public support,” said Tom Perriello, the executive director of Open Society Foundations. “But we’ve seen popular reforms get demonized before by partisans and special interests, and we are not going to let that happen.”
The initial $20 million will come from Soros’ main foundation and would go toward grassroots organizing instead of paid advertising.
“We hope this effort on the part of organizers and donors will give the Biden administration and Congress the assurance that they need to go as big, bold and fast as possible,” Leah Hunt-Hendrix, who co-founded progressive network Way to Win, said.