The Biden campaign intends to host a massive Los Angeles fundraiser headlined by former President Obama and a number of Hollywood elites as the president’s poll numbers continue to lag.
The star-studded lineup, which will include the likes of George Clooney and Julia Roberts, represents the campaign’s latest effort to boost the president’s fundraising efforts.
While President Biden has out-raised former President Donald Trump to this point in the race, the Trump campaign has been rapidly closing the gap in recent weeks. Trump has seen a massive boost in donations after formally clinching the Republican nomination, while the RNC has enjoyed continued success after the resignation of Ronna McDaniel.
The Los Angeles event, which is scheduled for mid-June, will feature a contest with Clooney and Roberts run across the campaign’s social media platforms, according to a report for NBC News. The campaign is hoping to energize grassroots donors, as well as celebrities and other surrogates for the campaign.
Both Clooney and Roberts will also lend their names to campaign text messages and emails in hopes of further boosting donations.
The campaign is hoping for a repeat of its swanky New York City fundraiser in late March, which featured former Presidents Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton. That event hauled in $26 million, a figure campaign staffers touted as a record haul for a single event.
As Biden continues to seek donations from high-profile celebrities and rich donors, the campaign continues to lag with small-dollar donations.
According to FEC records, 35 percent of Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign donations have been from big donors, or contributions greater than $2,000. Just 38 percent of the president’s current campaign donations have come from small donors, or contributions valued between $1 and $200.
As for the Trump campaign, 61 percent of campaign funds have come from small donors while just nine percent have come from big donors. Between 2020 and 2024, President Biden’s total donations from big donors have increased by 10 percentage points, while the former president’s numbers have decreased by the same margin.