After a weekend of schmoozing with the Hollywood elite, Joe Biden departed Los Angeles on Sunday with his re-election campaign more than $15 million flusher.
The boffo fundraising figure for the weekend was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by a source close to Jeffrey Katzenberg, the DreamWorks and Quibi co-founder and Biden campaign co-chair. The haul would be a record for a president or presidential candidate on a single fundraising trip to Los Angeles, and tops the $15 million Barack Obama raised in 2012 at a reception held at George and Amal Clooney’s house.
The president and First Lady Jill Biden began their whirlwind 36-hour tour of Los Angeles after landing on the West Coast on Friday, eventually hitting six private fundraising events and also finding time to attend the shiva of TV icon Norman Lear, who died Tuesday at age 101.
The couple kicked off a weekend of fundraising activity by speaking at a Holmby Hills event. Hosted by celebrity interior designer Michael Smith and his partner, James Costos, a former HBO executive and the former U.S. Ambassador to Spain. Also in attendance were Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, Shonda Rhimes, Rob Reiner, David Geffen, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
That Friday event, which featured a headline performance by Lenny Kravitz and was co-hosted by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, raised $8 million for the Biden campaign, the Associated Press reported.
