President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden rolled into Day Two of their their Los Angeles-area fund-raising blitz on Saturday, Dec. 9, criss-crossing the city for myriad meetings, many of them at private homes in posh neighborhoods.
While most of the president’s stops were thought to be linked to efforts to fuel his campaign coffers, one was a solemn experience: Biden attended a shiva at the residence of Lyn and Norman Lear in honor of the pioneering TV producer’s death last week at the age of 101.
“You know, (Lear’s) cast of characters painted a fuller picture of America, of our hopes and our hardships, our fears, our resilience, and changed the way we look at ourselves,” Biden said Friday at an evening gala. “In explaining his approach to getting the laugh — to get us to laugh and think, Norman Lear said, and I quote, “You stand a better chance if you can get them caring first” — “if you can get them caring first.”
Biden added: “Folks, at our best, we’re a nation that cares. We care about each other; we care about the nation. And in — and in three years, we’re going to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Norman brought an original — bought an original copy of that. And he shared it with schools and museums.”
The president also attended a “campaign meeting” Saturday at a home on Burk Place in the Trousdale Estates portion of Beverly Hills around midday, according to the White House pool report.
This weekend’s meetings are aimed at helping Biden reach a fundraising target of roughly $67 million for the fourth quarter of the year, according to a source close to the president’s campaign who spoke to the Associated Press but insisted on anonymity to discuss internal numbers.
The first lady is also campaigning for her husband, appearing at a fundraising event Saturday at NeueHouse Hollywood hosted by Matthew Crowley and Martha Leon De La Barra. She was introduced by actress Connie Britton and spoke for 11 minutes to an audience of about 100 guests, according to a pool report.
“I wish that this election were about simple policy differences. I wish it were about differences of character or merit. But fundamentally, what this election will be about is democracy,” she said.
“We are the party defending it, not the one tearing it at its seams. We are the party that holds sacred the peaceful transfer of power, not the one that assaulted the Capitol on January 6. You and I — we are the party protecting the right of this nation’s people to live freely, not the one praising the oppressive thumb of dictators.”
After the speech, she participated in a discussion moderated by actress Elizabeth Banks.
The couple was scheduled to attend at least six different meetings around the L.A. area between the two of them, swooping into events drawing a throng of musicians, movie stars and moguls. More meetings were expected Saturday afternoon and evening, but the White House had not released details as of mid-afternoon.
Meanwhile, police continued to investigate numerous acts of vandalism by some of the more than 1,000 protesters who demonstrated not far from the president’s appearance at a celebrity-studded fundraiser Friday in Holmby Hills.
“At one point an unlawful assembly and dispersal order was issued due to the protesters’ actions including throwing objects at officers and passing vehicles,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement.
More than 1,000 protesters gathered Friday afternoon to condemn U.S. funding of Israeli military strikes in Gaza with one holding a sign, “No votes for mass murderer.”
At one point, the crowd blocked entry to the president’s fundraiser as cars attempted to enter. Some demonstrators slammed on cars, shouted “Free Palestine,” at drivers, and refused to let up their street blockage.
After about hour and a half and some tense back and forth between officers and protesters, the demonstrators began marching toward Wilshire Boulevard. Completely blocking traffic on the southbound side of Wilshire, the protesters marched for several blocks. Some people in cars traveling the opposite way shouted their support for the movement; others displayed their opposition with thumbs down and middle fingers.
The demonstration was put on by the Palestinian Youth Movement, an organization comprising Palestinians and Arabs living in the U.S. and Canada, according to its website. Other activist groups, including Code Pink and and the Los Angeles chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also planned to participate in the demonstration.
“We are making sure that Biden hears the voices of Palestinian youth,” said Justice Crudup, a 29-year-old from LA, who works with the Orange County Justice Initiative. “We are seeing so many young voters who will turn 18 next year and who will see what’s transpiring this year…a lot of young people are going to be holding the power.”
Chief Moore said the protest ended without arrests,
“The crowd slowly dispersed and no arrests were made, no use of force, and no officers were injured,” he said.
Someone spray-painted “Free Gaza” on the wall of an apartment building on Wilshire Boulevard across from Sinai Temple. Some of the building’s residents inside threw objects at the crowd. Other Westwood businesses were tagged, Fox11 reported.
“The LAPD is aware of the acts of vandalism that occurred in the Westwood area last night by protestors who marched from an earlier demonstration. The graffiti is being removed today and crime reports have been taken,” the LAPD announced Saturday.
“The LAPD is actively investigating these crimes. While the LAPD fully supports 1st Amendment rights for peaceful demonstrations, we will not tolerate violence or vandalism of any kind.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, condemned the vandalism.
“The anti-Semitic acts and vandalism in Westwood are despicable. There is no ‘context’ in which anti-Semitism is acceptable. It is vile, repugnant and abhorrent,” Lieu wrote on X. “I urge law enforcement to investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
Meanwhile, inside the gala, Biden touted his record to the gathering of high-profile supporters and took a few swings at the GOP front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
“You’re the reason,” Biden told the crowd — co-hosted by such folks as former L.A. mayoral candidate and entrepreneur Rick Caruso and former Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco — “that Donald Trump is a former president, or he hates when I say it, a defeated president.”
Rhetoric swapped between the two political foes has grown increasingly bitter in the past few days, with Trump declaring Biden as “the destroyer of American democracy” this week. At Friday’s event, Biden declared: “The greatest threat Trump poses is to our democracy, because if we lost that, we lose everything.”
Earlier in the week, Trump declared Biden “the destroyer of American democracy.” The former president said Tuesday in Iowa: “(Biden has) been weaponizing government against his political opponents like a Third World political tyrant.”
Polls have shown Trump holds an overwhelming lead in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Other polls have shown he has a slight lead over Biden in a potential 2024 general election race.
“I’m the only thing standing between you and Lenny Kravitz,” Biden joked before yielding the stage for a performance by the veteran rocker.
Also attending the gala were filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner, television producer Shonda Rhimes, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass andand Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank.
Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi reportedly co-hosted the event along with former L.A. mayoral candidate and entrepreneur developer Rick Caruso.
According to Deadline, tickets ranged from $1,000 to $500,000. Those who contributed $25,000 or more had access to a photo line.
Republican Party officials condemned Biden’s fundraising swing.
“Today, Biden will listen to the concerns of Hollywood elitists instead of ordinary Californians suffering a violent crime epidemic, increased cost of living and Gavin Newsom’s record $68 billion deficit,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ben Petersen said in a statement Friday. “No wonder Biden is dragging down Democrats in competitive House races.”
The president is set to depart L.A. early Sunday afternoon, bound for Washington, D.C.
Staff writers Kristy Hutchings and Emily Holshouser, the Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.
Source: Orange County Register
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