President Joe Biden will touch down in Los Angeles tomorrow to tap the pocketbooks of Democratic donors during a one-day fundraising trip.
This marks the third occasion the president has used the City of Angels to bolster his reelection funds in the last three months. He attended a Bel Air fundraiser on Feb. 4 and raised over $15 million at various events during a late December trip.
Tuesday’s trip is part of a three day swing through California that also includes stops in San Francisco and Los Altos Hills, according to the White House.
While in Los Angeles, the president is expected to attend a fundraiser hosted by longtime Democratic donors Haim and Cheryl Saban and Casey Wasserman, a sports management executive and chairman of the LA 2028 Olympic Games planning group, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Like all good shoppers, sometimes you’ve got to go to the ATM more than once and if you’re a good candidate running for president, you’ve come to LA, which is the nation’s ATM, more than once,” said Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo. “I wouldn’t be shocked if he does more trips between now and election day.”
Tuesday’s event will take place in the Saban’s private residence. Haim Saban is an Israeli-American media mogul with a $2.8 billion net worth, according to Forbes. The couple have previously held major Biden campaign fundraisers in 2020 and 2022.
Tickets for the event start at $3,300 per person, rising to $250,000 for those who want to be listed as a co-chair, Deadline reported. Those who contribute $25,000 and above will be able to get a photo with the president.
On Thursday the President is expected to attend a fundraiser at the Los Altos Hills home of Robert and Danielle Klein, the Times reported. Robert Klein manages a $7 billion real estate development company and has led ballot initiatives to create a state funded stem-cell research agency.
While the First Lady Dr. Jill Biden joined the President for his visit to Los Angeles earlier this month, she will not be by his side on Tuesday and is scheduled to deliver remarks at a political finance event for the Biden Victory Fund in Guilford, Connecticut, according to the White House.
During the couple’s Feb. 3 and 4 visit, Biden attended a private campaign fundraiser in Bel Air, while the First Lady spoke at the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. She used her platform to highlight the Biden administration’s efforts to uplift Black entrepreneurs and the importance of supporting Biden in November to ensure gains in racial equity are not reversed.
In late December 2023, the Bidens embarked on a three-day fundraising blitz in Los Angeles and also attended a shiva at the residence of Lyn and Norman Lear in honor of the pioneering TV producer’s death.
On Monday morning, a different type of shiva took place outside of Vice President’s private Brentwood residence — a 12-hour shiva of political protest to mourn those killed in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, demand the Biden administration end military aid to Israel and call for a ceasefire.
“The speed of a 12-hour shiva that would usually cover seven whole days is meant to reflect the speed and intensity of Israel’s bloody campaign in Gaza,” said Leo Shaffer, an organizer with Pro-Palestine Jewish act group IfNotNow.
Pro-Palestine protestors also gathered in Brentwood when Harris spoke at a Biden reelection fundraiser at the home of Democratic donors Leslie and Cliff Gilbert-Lurie in late November. Protestors chanted “Harris Harris, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide” and spilled fake blood on the pavement, sidewalk and driveway.
During the President’s early February trip, his motorcade passed by multiple vehicles waving large Palestinian flags as he traveled to his Bel Air fundraiser.
Former President Donald Trump and current GOP frontrunner, meanwhile, has not paid a visit to the Southland since September 2023 when he attended the California GOP’s convention in Anaheim.
His competitor and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, however, made campaign stops in Orange County and Los Angeles on Feb. 7 to try and boost her SoCal support in advance of Super Tuesday when California will have 169 delegates up for grabs.
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