Obama, Bill Clinton to join Biden to raise US$25 million at fundraiser with Queen Latifah and Lizzo
- Biden and the ex-presidents will take part in a discussion moderated by The Late Show host Stephen Colbert at Radio City Music Hall
- Thursday’s event, with performances by Queen Latifah, Lizzo and Lea Michele, will raise US$5 million more than Trump drummed up during all of February
US President Joe Biden will get a boost from Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton on Thursday at a fundraiser in New York expected to raise more than US$25 million and add some oomph to Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.
Biden and the two former commanders-in-chief will take part in a discussion moderated by The Late Show host Stephen Colbert at Radio City Music Hall in front of thousands of guests at what Biden’s re-election campaign said would be the most successful political fundraiser in history.
Musicians Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele are scheduled to perform, and some high-paying attendees will get their pictures with the three presidents taken by star photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Biden, 81, has faced concerns about his age and fitness for a second four-year term. Recent Reuters/Ipsos polls show his approval rating at 40 per cent and a tight race with Republican challenger Donald Trump, who is 77, ahead of the election on November 5.
Biden and Obama arrived together on Air Force One in New York on Thursday afternoon.
Tickets for Thursday’s event are between US$250 and US$500,000, according to a Democrat familiar with the event. More than 5,000 people were expected to attend. The event will not be televised, but the campaign plans to post content from it on social media. Small-dollar donors can pay US$25 to take part in a virtual event with the three men.
“President Obama and President Clinton strongly support President Biden’s leadership and obviously his agenda,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday. “We understand the importance of the three of them being together.”
Biden has visited all of the top battleground states since a fiery State of the Union address earlier this month, but mostly has spoken to much smaller crowds, part of a deliberate strategy to emphasise interactions with ordinary Americans. Vice-President Kamala Harris has criss-crossed the country as well.
The show of support from Obama, who is still enormously popular with Democrats, could bolster enthusiasm from some young voters and other progressives who voted for Biden in 2020 but are furious about his staunch backing of Israel in its response to the October 7 Hamas attacks.
“The numbers don’t lie: today’s event is a massive show of force and a true reflection of the momentum to re-elect the Biden-Harris ticket,” campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement.
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Biden’s re-election effort raised more than US$53 million in February and US$10 million in the 24 hours following his March 7 address to Congress. Biden has been routinely outdone Trump on fundraising.
Obama has voiced concerns to Biden that Trump could win, ahead of a shake-up of Biden’s team that sent two top White House aides to the Wilmington, Delaware-based campaign.
The former president spent time at the White House recently putting together a video highlighting the anniversary of his signature Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Biden is campaigning hard on his efforts to strengthen the law and accuses Republicans of seeking to end it.
Trump used Biden’s event with Obama and Clinton to appeal to his own supporters as well. “The Obama-Clinton cartel thinks they will beat us tomorrow, but I have something they’ll NEVER have,” he said in a fundraising appeal on Wednesday, referring to his supporters.
