After former President Trump’s lucrative campaign, three days As he traverses California, President Biden has returned to the West Coast to tap into the Democratic-dominated state’s political ATM.
With less than five months until the November election, late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel will interview Biden and former President Obama as they team up with Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney and Julia Roberts at a star-studded fundraiser that , according to the president’s campaign, is already breaking records.
Biden’s campaign boasted that “the event has already raised more than $28 million and counting, making it the largest fundraiser in the history of the Democratic Party.”
The haul surpasses a fundraiser with Biden, Obama and former President Clinton in March at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, which raised $26 million.
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Former Presidents Clinton (right) and Obama (left) and President Biden (center) headline a Democratic Party fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall on March 28, 2024, in New York City. (Getty Images)
But Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, raised more than $50 million in early April at a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, home of billionaire investor and hedge fund founder John Paulson. It was the most money ever raised in a single fundraising event and broke the record Biden set just a week and a half earlier at Radio City Music Hall.
It’s the latest case of national politicians coming to California to fill their campaign coffers. According to Federal Election Commission figures, Biden and Trump have raised more money in California this cycle than any other state.
“When politicians look west, they see a green field,” California-based veteran political scientist Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College told Fox News.
President Biden and former President Trump have raised millions at fundraising events in California as they face off in their 2024 election rematch. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson and Evan Vucci)
Tickets for Saturday’s gala at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, which an invitation describes as a “historic evening,” ranged from $250 for a single person to get in to half a million dollars for special access, photos with Biden and Obama. and invitations to an after party.
The president arrived in California a week after Trump left the Golden State.
Trump’s team said that when all the money is counted, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was expected to raise approximately $27.5 million from three fundraisers in California and one in Las Vegas, a senior campaign official told FoxNews.
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And Trump’s campaign said an additional $6 million was raised for outside groups supporting his 2024 election rematch with Biden.
Trump has attempted to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) raised more than Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee for the first time.
Trump’s campaign announced a week ago that he and the Republican National Committee raised a staggering $141 million in May, fueled in part by the former president’s guilty verdicts in his recently concluded criminal trial.
Former President Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)
Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.
The former president’s campaign noted that in the first 24 hours after the verdict, she and the RNC raised nearly $53 million, which counted toward May’s total.
Biden’s campaign has also been raising money thanks to the Trump verdict, with a source telling Fox News that “the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the Biden campaign’s best 24 hours of fundraising since its launch.” “.
While Trump’s California fundraiser was fueled by top Republican donors, including tech industry investors and hedge fund giants, Saturday’s fundraiser for Biden is being orchestrated by the Hollywood Democratic machine.
It’s no surprise. The entertainment industry, which showered Presidents Clinton and Obama with campaign money, has long been known for its Democratic leanings.
And although Biden, 81, does not have the close relationships with Hollywood that his Democratic predecessors enjoyed, he can still draw crowds.
“Any Democratic presidential candidate will be able to raise a lot of money in California, and a sitting president has a big advantage. When the president walks into a room, it fills with cash,” Pitney said.
President Biden waves as he arrives on Air Force One on June 15, 2024 in Los Angeles. Biden will attend a campaign event Saturday night. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Major strikes by two Hollywood unions representing film and television writers and actors from May to November of last year delayed Biden in raising money in Los Angeles entertainment circles.
But the president began making up for lost time in December with a major fundraiser hosted by famed directors Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner. Saturday’s mega fundraiser was orchestrated by media mogul and Democratic booster Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-chairman of Biden’s campaign. Katzenberg also organized the Radio City Music Hall fundraiser.
Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee have enlisted the help of many well-known entertainment stars and entertainers as the president runs for a second term.
Among those lending a hand was famed actor Robert De Niro, who headlined a Biden campaign news conference outside the New York City courthouse during the final days of Trump’s trial.
The press conference went viral after De Niro, who played gangsters in cinematic masterpieces such as “The Godfather Part II” and “Goodfellas,” yelled at nearby Trump supporters that “you’re gangsters” as they yelled obscenities at him. actor.
Actor Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga, made a recent unannounced appearance in the White House briefing room to praise the president and called Biden “Joe-Bi-Wan-Kenobi.”
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Spielberg has helped the Democratic National Committee with its storytelling efforts, and Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris on a recent tour of battleground Michigan.
Trump, whose last California fundraiser took place last weekend at a luxury gated community in Newport Beach, California, and included veteran actor Jon Voight, will spend this weekend in Michigan and host multiple events, including a table round in a northwest Detroit church.
Supporters of former President Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, react to his motorcade on the day he visits to raise money in Newport Beach, California, on June 8, 2024. (REUTERS/David Swanson)
Trump’s campaign argued that the former president will meet with “ordinary Americans,” while “Biden will be at a glitzy fundraiser in Hollywood with his elitist, out-of-touch celebrity benefactors.”
Trump’s campaign and his Republican allies also criticized the president for skipping a peace conference on Ukraine being held this weekend in Switzerland to appear at the fundraising event in California. Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the United States in the peace talks.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 election campaign, exclusive interviews and more in our Fox News Digital Election Center.
