‘Scranton Joe’ flies to California to tap Hollywood elite and replenish its $130 million war chest: Biden heads to $250,000-a-person fundraiser hosted by billionaire Israeli producer, who launched Power Rangers, on glitzy fundraising

President Joe Biden will leave Washington for another visit to California’s entrenched political donors as he tries to build a war chest to rival Donald Trump’s fundraising machine.

He will travel to the West Coast for the second time this month to replenish campaign coffers already filled with $130 million — the highest total ever collected at this stage of the cycle.

His first event is with a billionaire Israeli-American Hollywood mogul. Tickets reportedly cost up to $250,000, making it a nice payday for Biden’s re-election efforts.

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 at the Santa Monica home of billionaire media mogul Haim Saban, famous for launching the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers into the world.

He will be the first to arrive in Los Angeles for a fundraising event. There will also be campaign stops in San Francisco and Los Altos Hills, with an official policy being delivered near Los Angeles on Wednesday.

His first event will be at the Santa Monica home of Israeli-American media mogul Haim Saban, whose company introduced Power Rangers to the world. Forbes estimates he is worth $2.8 billion.

However, his status as an outspoken supporter of Israel could spark protests from the progressive wing of Biden’s own party, which wants the president to reverse his full support for Israel’s attack on 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 cost up to $250,000.

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.

Saban is estimated to be worth $2.8 billion, according to Forbes

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.