Within 24 hours, President Joe Biden will have gone from the G7 summit to George Clooney.
Mr Biden left Italy late on Friday evening after meeting with world leaders and arrived in Los Angeles early on Saturday morning a star-studded evening fundraiser with former President Barack Obama, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Clooney and actress Julia Roberts.
The Biden-Harris campaign says they have already raised $28 million for Saturday night’s event, a record amount for a single Democratic fundraiser. It also eclipses the $26 million the Biden campaign raised during a March fundraiser in New York City with Biden, Obama and former President Bill Clinton.
Alex Brandon / AP
Saturday’s star-studded affair will feature a moderated interview of Biden and Obama by Kimmel, which is expected to focus on health care. Kimmel has been a public supporter of the Affordable Care Act, passed by Obama and Biden, after his newborn son underwent open-heart surgery in 2017.
Clooney and Roberts will host the event on Saturday. Appearances are also expected from actors Jason Bateman, Jack Black, Kathryn Hahn and Sheryl Lee Ralph, along with an undisclosed musical guest.
Other celebrities, such as Keegan-Michael Key, Connie Britton, Misha Collins, Jeri Ryan, Jonathan Del Arco, Mandana Dayani, Blake Cooper Griffin and Adam Met, will be in attendance, according to the Biden campaign.
Ticket prices for Saturday’s event ranged from $250 to $500,000, although donors could donate $20 to watch the fundraiser virtually.
Hollywood actors have been on the campaign trail in recent weeks in support of Biden. Robert De Niro took part in a campaign press conference in May outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial took place. Ralph from “Abbott Elementary” campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania, and Jane Fonda appeared at a campaign event in Reno, Nevada on Friday with first lady Jill Biden.
The money comes at a time when the race between Biden and Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is intense. a CBS News poll As of June, Mr. Biden found himself 1 point ahead in the battleground states, a virtual tie. The Biden campaign says the money raised Saturday will go toward growing their grassroots operations (field offices, staffers) and paid media.
“This Saturday we will see an unprecedented and record-breaking turnout from the media and entertainment world. The enthusiasm and commitment for Biden/Harris could not be stronger. We all understand that this is the most important election of our lifetimes,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign and film producer.
While Mr. Biden has had a significant cash advantage for most of the cycle, Mr. Trump has seen his own fundraising grow. His campaign says yes has raised $52.8 million in the 24 hours after he was convicted of 34 crimes from his ‘hush money’ trial.
The Trump campaign says they also have one record-breaking $50.5 million during an April fundraiser in Florida.
Mr. Clooney’s involvement in the fundraiser created some intrigue after the Washington Post reported in June that he had called a White House adviser to express grievances about Biden’s criticism of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where Clooney’s wife Amal is on works. Biden has criticized the ICC application for arrest warrants from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
A few days later, the Biden campaign sent a fundraising text from Clooney.
“I am not exaggerating when I say that these elections are the fight of our lives,” Clooney wrote. “It’s a choice between those who want to take America back to the past and those who want to take America into the future.”
