LOS ANGELES— Some of the biggest names in Hollywood headlined a fundraiser for President Joe Biden that, according to his campaign, raised more than $30 million for a Democratic candidate. They did this to get people excited about what they called “one of the most important races in U.S. history.”
On Saturday night, people like George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Barbra Streisand performed at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, which has 7,100 seats. Jimmy Kimmel, a late-night host, talked to Biden and former President Barack Obama. Both of them stressed how important it was to beat former President Donald Trump in a race that is expected to be very close.
During the more than 30-minute conversation, Kimmel asked Biden if the country had forgotten about the likely Republican nominee. Biden replied, “All we gotta do is remember what it was like” when Trump was in the White House.
More and more famous people in the entertainment world are volunteering to help Biden’s campaign. To show how important the event was to his reelection bid, Biden flew through the night, from the G-7 summit in southern Italy to Southern California, crossing nine time zones.
He also missed a meeting in Switzerland to talk about ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Instead, Vice President Kamala Harris went on a last-minute trip to represent the US there, which was a stark reminder of how difficult it is for Biden to balance geopolitics with his campaign for a second term.
More political implications were made clear by the fact that cops in riot gear were outside the theater. A group of people who were upset with how Biden’s administration was treating Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas held a protest nearby.
Two singers, Jack Black and Sheryl Lee Ralph, performed at the event. Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman introduced Kimmel, who then introduced Biden and Obama. The comic laughed out loud and said, “I was told I would be introduced by Batman, not Bateman.”
But he quickly changed the subject to something much more serious. He said, “So much is at stake in this election,” naming women’s rights, health care, and the fact that “even the ballot is on the ballot,” a reference to the Biden administration’s calls to give more people the right to vote.
When Kimmel asked the president what he was most proud of, Biden said that he thought the manner in which the government was handling the economy “was working.”
We try to give everyone an equal chance, and our economy is the best in the world right now, Biden said.
Trump was campaigning in Detroit on Saturday and said bad things about how Biden was handling the business and inflation. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said that the president was raising money “with out-of-touch elitist Hollywood celebrities.”
On the other hand, Biden told the crowd in California, “We passed every major piece of legislation we tried to get done.” Obama also praised the sweeping laws that his former vice president’s government had passed on health care, public works, the environment, making technology, gun safety, and other important issues.
“What we’re seeing now is a result of 2016” “For some reason, a lot of people sat out,” Obama said. He wore a dark suit and a white shirt with the collar left open, just like Biden.
Obama also said this about the Supreme Court: “Hopefully we have learned our lesson, because these elections matter in very real ways.”
Trump chose three justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, the important ruling that said everyone has the constitutional right to an abortion. People in the crowd were upset when Roe was brought up, and Obama told them, “Don’t hiss, vote.” That was a play on his usual line that voting is more important than booing.
Biden said that whoever wins the election in November could choose to appoint two new judges. However, with a current 6-3 conservative majority, a second Biden term probably wouldn’t make big changes to the court.
If Trump gets the White House again, he said, “one of the scariest parts” would be the Supreme Court because it has “never been this far out of step.”
Biden also talked about rumors that in January 2021, an upside-down flag was flown outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. This flag is a symbol of Trump’s false claims of election fraud. He was scared on Saturday that if Trump wins again, “He’s going to appoint two more who fly their flags upside down.”
Throughout the night, Kimmel shared his unique style of humor. He once asked how a president could get back at a talk show host who makes fun of him every night on TV.
“Heard of Delta Force?” Biden replied by talking about the Army’s special forces unit.
Earlier in the show, Kimmel talked about Biden’s campaign promise to heal America’s soul and said, “Lately it seems like we might need an exorcism.” After that, he asked Biden, “Is that why you went to see the pope?” Biden and Pope Francis got together on Friday in Italy.
The number raised was more than the record $26 million that Biden raised at a fundraiser in March at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, where late-night host Stephen Colbert interviewed Biden, Obama, and former President Bill Clinton.
In the early going, Biden had more campaign money than Trump. But since he officially locked up the Republican nomination, Trump has caught up.
Trump raised more money than Biden did at his event in New York—$50,500,000—at a meeting of big donors in April at the home of billionaire investor John Paulson in Florida. The campaign of the former president and the Republican National Committee said they raised a huge $141 million in May. This amount was boosted by tens of millions of dollars in donations that came in after Trump was found guilty of using hush money to influence witnesses.
That increase after conviction came after Trump and the Republican Party said they had raised $76 million in April, which was a lot more than Biden and the Democrats’ $51 million for the month.
