President Joe Biden kicked off a weekend of fundraising exercise in Los Angeles Friday night time, talking at an occasion, which additionally featured Steven Spielberg and Shonda Rhimes.
As the primary Hollywood-centric fundraiser of his reelection marketing campaign, Biden used his time on the stage to name out Donald Trump and clarify why he poses the “best risk” to democracy.
“That is an extremely profitable night time,” the president stated at first of his speech, in accordance with the Related Press, earlier than joking that he didn’t need to speak lengthy as a result of he was “the one factor standing between you and Lenny Kravitz.”
The Grammy-winning singer carried out on the occasion hosted by superstar inside designer Michael Smith and his accomplice, James Costos. The latter of whom stated earlier that supporters from throughout the nation got here to attend the fundraiser: “This isn’t only a Hollywood gathering, it’s extra like a nationwide occasion.”
Biden proceeded to name Trump, who can also be in search of reelection within the upcoming race, “the primary dropping president and candidate in historical past who refused to just accept the outcome” of the 2020 election.
“He refused to point out up at my inauguration. I can’t say I used to be disenchanted,” Biden added, in accordance with the AP. ”My guess is he received’t present up on the subsequent inauguration.”
The fundraiser Friday night time additionally featured Barbra Streisand, Rob Reiner, David Geffen and former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass had been additionally in attendance.
Different co-hosts included Jim Gianopulos, former chairman of Paramount Footage; Wendy Schmidt, spouse of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt; Bob Tuttle, who served as U.S. ambassador to the UK beneath Republican President George W. Bush; and his spouse, Maria Hummer Tuttle.
The AP additionally reported that a whole bunch of protesters demonstrating in opposition to the Biden administration’s assist for Israel throughout its conflict with Hamas could possibly be heard close by, chanting and blowing whistles.
Biden is ready to attend a number of further private and non-private occasions over the weekend, together with a fundraising assembly on Saturday on the house of Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks Footage and one of many Biden marketing campaign’s nationwide co-chairs.
