President Joe Biden landed in California on Tuesday for a major fundraiser only to learn that the hosts of his glittering first event had tested positive for COVID-19.
Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media mogul who introduced the U.S. to Power Rangers, fell ill earlier in the day and then entertainment executive Casey Wasserman tested positive, according to stand-in host Leslie Gilbert-Lurie.
“I wish them the fastest recovery,” Biden said as he took the stage in front of hundreds of supporters, including Jane Fonda.
Details of the positive tests emerged shortly after Air Force One landed at Los Angeles International Airport.
His motorcade arrived as planned at billionaire Saban’s home in the Santa Monica Hills and the event, for which tickets cost $250,000, was still expected to go ahead.
President Joe Biden will make his second trip of the month to California on Tuesday. The three-day trip includes a series of fundraising events, plus an official speech. Biden is seen here as he traveled to New York for fundraising earlier this month
President Joe Biden wished Haim Saban (left) and Casey Wasserman a speedy recovery at his fundraising event in Los Angeles after they tested positive for COVID-19
Biden took the opportunity to criticize former President Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans who stood with him for failing.
“When Navalny died last week and the world holds Putin responsible, Trump fails even to condemn it,” he said of the Russian opposition leader who died in a Russian prison last week. ‘It’s outrageous.
“In short: Republicans have to decide who they serve? Donald Trump or the American people?’
It marks his second visit to the state this month to boost campaign coffers already filled by $130 million — the highest total ever collected at this stage of the cycle.
Hours before he boarded Air Force One for the trip, his campaign and Democratic Nation announced they had raised $42 million in contributions from 422,000 donors in January.
The trip marks his third visit to California in just over two months for political events.
His first stop is Los Angeles for a fundraising event. Campaign events will also take place in San Francisco and Los Altos Hills, with an official policy on Wednesday near Los Angeles.
The first event was at Saban’s home. He is a known supporter of Israel and has expressed concern that it could attract protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Los Angeles Times said other hosts also have deep ties to the Jewish community, including Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, author of a book about her life as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and Nicole Mutchnik, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League, who campaigns against anti-Semitism.
It reported that tickets for the event started at $3,300.
Protests ultimately failed to materialize because the wet weather kept people at home.
Instead, the biggest threat was COVID, as both hosts tested positive, news first reported by Deadline.
Anyone who comes into contact with the president must still be tested.
The first stop was at the home of Haim Saban, who is worth an estimated $2.8 billion according to Forbes. However, due to COVID, we were unable to attend
Saban is known for buying the rights to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and introducing them to American television
The repeated swings through California, a state that is not even close to competition for the Republicans, show how Biden must continue to raise money for what will be a difficult contest with Trump, who has mastered the art of attracting millions of small donors to drill. .
In Tuesday’s announcement, the Biden campaign emphasized the importance of small donations, saying that 97 percent of the three million contributions were less than $200 at a time.
Senior Communications Advisor TJ Ducklo said, “These proceeds will go directly toward reaching the voters who will decide this election.”
At the beginning of the month, the president visited Star Wars creator George Lucas’ home in Los Angeles, where he spoke to wealthy donors who were in town for the Golden Globes.
U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass greet U.S. President Joe Biden upon his arrival in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday afternoon
National polls show Biden trailing the likely Republican nominee by about three or four points.
He has gone on the offensive over Trump’s comments that appeared to undermine NATO, the alliance of Western countries that pledge mutual defense.
The campaign launched digital ads in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, highlighting the former president’s threat to NATO countries.
And Biden has also condemned Republicans in the House of Representatives for blocking a bill that would have sent $60 billion in aid to Ukraine for its defense against Russia.
“The idea that we are going to leave Ukraine, the idea that we are going to split NATO, is totally contrary to the interests of the United States of America and it is contrary to our word that we have given. all the way back to Eisenhower,” he told reporters on Sunday.