President Joe Biden tried to squash bubbling concerns over his electability with a campaign cash swing in California as his 2024 White House reelection campaign lumbers toward another likely rematch with former President Donald Trump.
Biden, who would be 82 at the start of a potential second term, recently escaped charges in the investigation into his mishandling of classified documents, but special counsel Robert Hur’s report on the matter raised new questions about Biden’s age and general fitness for office.
Hur specifically claimed that, in interviews with the special counsel’s office, Biden displayed a clearly faulty memory, a claim the White House has heartily rejected.
Meanwhile, the president is facing a wave of dissatisfaction with voters under the age of 35 for any number of issues, ranging from a perceived failure regarding his student loan debt forgiveness plan to his refusal to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Yet Biden hosted receptions and fundraisers in Los Angeles on Tuesday, San Francisco on Wednesday, and nearby Mountain View on Thursday, aimed at easing any of those bubbling concerns among an important leg of his winning 2020 coalition: Hollywood bigwigs.
California has long proved a gold mine for Democrat political organizing, and multiple Democratic campaign strategists told the Washington Examiner that it’s not surprising that Biden has traveled to the Golden State twice in February ahead of the state primary on Super Tuesday, though there’s no realistic chance he falls to Democratic challenger and the state remains safely blue heading toward the general election.
Before this week’s trip, Biden spent Feb. 2 in the state, where he mingled with black entertainment industry executives and hosted an A-list fundraiser attended by Steven Spielberg, Barbara Streisand, Rob Reiner, Lenny Kravitz, David Geffen, and more.
“California is important for the president’s campaign; there’s no way around it,” one Democratic operative familiar with Biden’s campaign strategy explained. “The celebrities he can reach here will pay dividends in the fall when less activated voters are finally tuning into the general election.”
That person even jokingly referred to Biden’s strategy as “trickle-down campaigning,” suggesting that fans of celebrities backing the president could be influenced to support Biden themselves in the general.
Actress and environmental activist Jane Fonda and comedian Greg Proops were in attendance at Biden’s event in Los Angeles on Tuesday, while former Today show anchor Kate Couric stopped by Thursday’s event in Mountain View. A Democratic campaign strategist suggested to the Washington Examiner that the more Biden is seen openly associated with celebrities in Hollywood, the more likely even bigger stars will be willing to campaign for him directly in the coming months as more and more people begin tuning into the 2024 race.
“The money might be an even bigger boon,” that person added, noting how Biden is hoping to continue his strong fundraising run, especially as Trump runs into somewhat of a cash crunch of his own.
Trump’s campaign and associated super PACs brought in $188 million in 2023, but much of that went toward covering his legal fees, and the former president ended the year with roughly $65 million in hand. And the latest campaign finance reports showed that Republican primary challenger Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, outraised her old boss in January $11 million to $8 million.
Biden, for comparison, pulled in $42 million in January alone and ended that month with more than $130 million on hand.
“President Biden is running an aggressive advertising campaign, and that costs money,” a third Democratic strategist explained. “Even when Donald Trump is reduced to selling $400 sneakers, the president’s team won’t want to take their foot off the gas when it comes to wooing donors. There’s no room for error in this race.”
As for the substance of the president’s reelection pitch this week, Biden largely stuck to his past remarks but did make some news, a move approved of by two campaign strategists.
Biden specifically called Russian President Vladimir Putin an “SOB” and claimed it was harder working with current Republican lawmakers than former Sen. Strom Thurmond and other “real racists” during Biden’s early days in government.
And on Thursday, Biden addressed TV star Katie Couric directly while speaking at the Mountain View fundraiser and claimed that two media personalities had “personally” told him they planned to flee the country should Biden lose to Trump in 2024.
“Katie, two of your colleagues, not at your network, have told me personally, if he wins, we’re going to have to leave the country because he’s threatened to put them in jail,” the president stated.
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“That’s important. President Biden is at his best when the cameras aren’t rolling, and he can relate to people on a personal level,” one campaign operative told the Washington Examiner. “Letting loose a little bit at these fundraisers helps let donors, and by extension voters, see that the president is still sharp and still clearly cares about these issues, unlike his predecessor.”
“President Biden doesn’t need to reinventthe wheel here,” a second Democratic operative added. “Everyone knows the stakes of this election — the president himself makes them abundantly clear in nearly every speech — but it’s still reassuring for folks to hear the president make the case in person.”
