Biden hosts star-studded NYC fundraiser with Obama and Clinton
US President Joe Biden, alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, is gearing up to host an unprecedented fundraising event in New York City.
According to his team, the gathering and concert are anticipated to generate over $25 million (£20 million) for the Democrat’s re-election campaign, marking the highest fundraising total ever recorded for a single political occasion.
The primary objective is to widen the financial disparity between President Biden and his Republican opponent, Donald Trump. Current polls indicate a highly competitive race for the White House, with the outcome hanging delicately in the balance.
Scheduled for Thursday at New York’s iconic Radio City Music Hall, this event follows a vigorous Biden campaign effort in crucial swing states crucial to November’s election outcome.
Despite the positive reception of his recent State of the Union Address among Democrats, the 81-year-old president continues to grapple with persistently low approval ratings, despite a recent uptick in support.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is also present in the New York vicinity on Thursday, paying respects at the wake of Jonathan Diller, a police officer tragically killed in the line of duty.
The Biden campaign proudly announced a staggering $155 million in available funds, marking the largest war chest ever amassed by a Democratic candidate at this stage in an election cycle.
With an estimated attendance of over 5,000 individuals, the star-studded Democratic fundraiser promises to draw widespread attention, with countless more expected to tune in online. Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert is slated to moderate a discussion among the three presidents.
The event will be hosted by actress Mindy Kaling and feature musical performances from Lizzo, Queen Latifah, and Lea Michele.
First Lady Jill Biden will host an after-party for 500 guests. The president’s son, Hunter Biden, and his family are also attending.
The tickets are priced between $225 and half a million dollars. For $100,000, guests can get a picture with Mr. Biden, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Clinton, with star photographer Annie Leibovitz taking the snaps.
President Biden was joined on the Air Force One flight to New York by Mr Obama, who briefly came back for an off-the-record chat with reporters on the presidential jet.
The two men have remained close since Mr Obama left the White House, and are reported to speak regularly.
New York ground to a halt for their arrival as the two men’s huge motorcade cut across Manhattan in the pouring rain as hundreds of onlookers jostled to take pictures.
Mr Biden’s previous best single-day fundraising effort was the $10m he raised in 24 hours after his State of the Union address on 7 March.
His fundraising lead over Mr Trump – who is seeking a return to the White House four years after his presidency ended – has been boosted by the advantage of incumbency, experts say.
“Biden raising a lot of money is probably a function of him not having any real primary challengers,” Joseph Campbell, a communications professor at American University, told the BBC. “There’s no competition for Democratic donor money.”
Mr Trump’s campaign and his joint fundraising committee brought in $20m in the whole of February, less than what the Biden campaign expects to receive just from Thursday’s event.
In addition to Mr Trump’s fundraising challenges, his campaign and political action committees have had to spend millions of dollars in legal fees fighting the criminal and civil cases against him.
Mr Trump, 77, blasted the Democratic fundraising event in a fundraising email of his own, sent out by his campaign on Thursday morning.
“Hundreds of deranged Hollywood liberals will be in attendance, and they will open their wallets to fund the destruction of the country!” the message said.
While Mr Biden has been crisscrossing the country in recent weeks, Mr Trump has kept a lower political profile as he juggles court appearances.
The Democratic president’s handling of the economy, inflation, immigration, the Israel-Gaza war, and perceptions about his age are some of the issues that have been dragging down his approval rating.
On the trail, Mr Biden has pointed to his legislative accomplishments, including capping insulin costs, a bipartisan infrastructure bill, and the first gun control act in decades.
And his campaign has spent tens of millions on TV and digital advertising targeting black and Latino voters, as he seeks to hold together the coalition that put him in the White House in the 2020 election.
Some opinion polls have suggested that loyalty among these key voting blocs could be softening.
The 2024 presidential election cycle is predicted to be the most expensive in history, with an estimated $2.7bn spent on presidential campaign ads alone.
