- Biden has raised the most of any president or presidential candidate for a single visit to Los Angeles
- He covered Obama's 2012 trip, which included a fundraiser at George Clooney's house
- Biden and Jill Biden attended six fundraising events during a whirlwind weekend visit
President Joe Biden left Los Angeles with $15 million more in his campaign coffers than he started after a series of fundraisers attended by a bevy of stars including Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, Shonda Rhimes, Rob Reiner and David Geffen.
The president and first lady Jill Biden attended six private fundraising events and also sat in Shiva at TV icon Norman Lear's home during their whirlwind three days on the West Coast.
The time was rewarded with $15 million in returns, the Hollywood Reporter noted, citing a source close to Jeffrey Katzenberg, the co-chairman of DreamWorks and Biden's campaign.
James Costos (center) posted a photo of the fundraiser he hosted at his Los Angeles home with (from left) first lady Jill Biden, President Joe Biden, speaker emeritus Nancy Pelosi and Costos' partner Michael Smith
It is the most raised for a single visit to Los Angeles by any president or presidential candidate, Katzenberg told Deadline Hollywood, including a trip by Barack Obama in May 2012 that included a fundraiser at George Clooney's home. That trip raised almost $15 million.
The Bidens spent the weekend behind closed doors with high-dollar donors and headlined a huge Hollywood-focused fundraiser Friday evening at the Holmby Hills home of James Costos, the former U.S. ambassador to Spain, and his designer partner Michael Smith.
At that event, several prominent California Democrats joined the celebrity-filled audience, including Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Representative Adam Schiff and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
In his remarks at fundraisers, Biden is increasingly directing his anger at Donald Trump, who is leading the poll for the Republican presidential nomination.
The president has rejected Trump's suggestions that he would not rule as a dictator “except on Day 1.”
“Thank God only one day,” Biden joked.
“He embraces political violence rather than rejecting it.”
He also called Trump “the first losing president and candidate in history to refuse to consider the outcome” of the 2020 race.
“He refused to appear at my inauguration. I can't say I was disappointed,” Biden said. Then he added, amid cheers and laughter, “I suspect he won't appear at the next inauguration.”
Joe and Jill Biden leave Air Force One on Sunday after spending the weekend in Los Angeles
With the long strike by Hollywood actors over, Biden headed to the wealthy West Coast to raise much-needed campaign cash before the year-end deadline.
His campaign is focused on raising about $67 million for the fourth quarter of the year.
“This is an incredibly successful evening,” the president said Friday evening at his first fundraiser to kick off the weekend. He joked that he didn't want to talk for long because he was “the only thing standing between you and Lenny Kravitz.”
Biden was followed by a large group of pro-Palestinian protesters at some of his events. Protesters also followed him during his Thanksgiving break in Nantucket.
They have accused the president of supporting genocide.