Let me help you, Joe! Obama follows Biden down the small Air Force One stairs and guides him to the motorcade with a hand on his back as they land in New York for $25million fundraiser
Former President Barack Obama followed President Joe Biden down the small stairs of Air Force One and led him to the Beast as the duo arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday.
Obama, along with former President Bill Clinton, who lives in New York, will join Biden on stage for a glitzy fundraiser in New York City on Thursday evening at Radio City Music Hall.
The event is expected to raise $25 million.
During the flight, Obama could be heard briefly saying hello to the White House press corps, while press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the conversation was off the record.
Obama’s involvement with the Biden campaign comes after several reports said the 62-year-old ex-president had raised alarms about Biden’s reelection prospects.
Former President Barack Obama (right) got a ride on Air Force One with President Joe Biden (left) ahead of their glitzy $25 million fundraiser in New York City Thursday evening
Obama (right) led Biden (left) to the presidential limousine as the duo of Democratic presidents arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. They will be joined by former President Bill Clinton
During the Thursday evening event the Democratic three presidents will interact with some of the wealthiest donors.
They are interviewed by the CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert.
The Office and The Mindy Project stars Mindy Kaling is set to emcee.
Donors at the Democratic bash will be entertained by musical guests Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele.
And those willing to donate more than $100,000 to the Biden campaign can have their photo taken with all three presidents.
Meanwhile, Biden’s 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, will attend the aftermath of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller at Massapequa Funeral Home on Long Island.
Diller was shot and killed while on duty in Queens on Monday.
Guy Rivera, the suspect arrested in the murder, has been arrested 21 times.
On Wednesday, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed rumors that Trump planned to attend Thursday’s wake at the Massapequa Funeral Home in New York.
On Monday, Officer Diller was shot and killed in Queens during a routine traffic stop. He leaves behind a wife and one-year-old son.
Thousands of law enforcement officers observed the arrival of Diller’s body at the upstate New York funeral home where his service will be held Thursday.
Time Magazine’s cover story Last week, two in-person meetings Obama had with Biden last year were detailed β one in June and then a follow-up in December, when the ex-president saw the president’s campaign fail to improve.
βHe expressed concern that the reelection campaign was behind schedule in building out field operations and was hampered by Biden’s insistence on relying on an insular group of advisers clustered in the West Wing,β Time wrote, citing a Democratic insider.
A sequel story in The New York Times Tuesday said Obama regularly calls Biden β but he also calls White House chief of staff Jeff Zients.
A senior aide told the newspaper that Obama has “always” worried about a Biden loss to Trump, which is why he is willing to work things out with his former vice president until Election Day in November.
Obama’s reported warnings are similar to what Clinton said behind closed doors ahead of the 2016 presidential election, in which his wife, Democrat Hillary Clinton, shockingly lost to Trump, who had never held elected office.
In the book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign, authors Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen describe how Bill Clinton feared that his wife and her campaign staff were taking some support for granted.
He suggested she go to communities that wouldn’t necessarily vote Democrat, just to show she was doing her best.
Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will join President Joe Biden on stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City (pictured) for a discussion moderated by CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert
βHe knew there was some power in showing up,β co-author Allen said in an 2017 interview with ABC News.
Obama has reportedly told Biden that his field operations are being built up too slowly β hampered by the president’s reliance on an “insular group of advisers clustered in the West Wing,” Time said.
During Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign β which he successfully won against Republican Mitt Romney β he had hired more than 900 employees by the summer.
The Biden campaign, headquartered in Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, ended 2023 with only about 70 paid employees, although there is a goal to hire 350.
Biden’s team said the campaign also plans to call on Democratic National Committee staff to support efforts at the state level.