President Joe Biden will visit downtown Los Angeles on Saturday for a star-studded fundraiser featuring Barack Obama that the Biden campaign says is already breaking records as the largest fundraiser in Democratic Party history.
Biden is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport shortly after 5 a.m. and attend an event at the Peacock Theater, formerly known as the Nokia and Microsoft Theater, which will also feature Hollywood supporters such as George Clooney, Jimmy Kimmel and Julia Roberts. The Biden campaign announced Saturday that the fundraiser has already raised more than $28 million.
Tickets for the event are selling for between $250,000 and $500,000, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-chair of the Biden 2024 campaign, who helped organize the event, said the campaign was looking forward to showing off its support from Hollywood, The Times reported.
“This Saturday, we will see record numbers of people from the media and entertainment industries coming together, unprecedented times,” Katzenberg said. “We all understand that this is the most important election of our lifetimes.”
Meanwhile, the California Republican Party said Biden’s inclusion of entertainment industry elites on his candidacy probably doesn’t bode well for some voters.
“There’s no better way to say to struggling Americans that we understand your pain and we stand by you than spending the night with George Clooney, Julia Roberts and other Hollywood celebrities,” party chair Jessica Milan Patterson said in a statement.
Last week, Republican candidate and convicted former president Donald Trump visited Southern California, where he attended a fundraiser in Newport Beach where tickets ranged in price from $3,300 to $100,000. Attendees could pay from $35,000 onwards and had the chance to have their photo taken with Trump.
Biden’s last visit to the Los Angeles area was in February, when he attended a fundraiser at the gated community of Beverly Park at the home of Israeli-American media mogul Haim Saban. Tickets for the event were on sale for between $3,300 and $250,000.
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