McLean, Va. (Associated Press) President Joe Biden Speaking at a big fundraiser on Tuesday, Trump again denounced him as a “convicted felon” and said his opponent in November’s presidential election was launching an “all-out attack” on the US justice system.
An event with former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday raised $8 million for Biden’s reelection campaign, part of about $40 million Biden and his top surrogates have raised in the past five days, according to the campaign. Most of that came at a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday that included movie stars and former President Barack Obama, which raised more than $30 million. First lady Jill Biden has also been raising $1.5 million in her own personal fundraiser.
Biden and Clinton attended with President Obama. A fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York in MarchThe main focus of Tuesday’s event was at the home of former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a longtime adviser to Clinton. Author John Grisham, Jill Biden and former first lady Hillary Clinton also attended the event in McLean, Virginia, an upscale Washington suburb.
Biden told a backyard crowd of about 450 people that Trump was desperate and that “the threat posed by Trump in a second term would be greater than he was in his first term,” referring to the former president’s 34 felony conviction in a New York hush-money lawsuit.
“For the first time in American history, a former president has been convicted of a felony,” Biden said, adding, “But as disturbing as that is, what’s even more reprehensible is the full-scale assault that Mr. Trump is waging on our justice system.”
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Biden has been privately He blamed the former president He has argued that the case against him is politically motivated, saying, “It is reckless, dangerous and irresponsible to say it’s fraudulent just because you don’t like the verdict.” But the Biden campaign has launched a $50 million ad buy by the end of June, including its first TV ads. Trump emphasizes his beliefsThis suggests they see the incident as a matter of political power heading into Election Day.
Before Biden took the stage, McAuliffe joked that the rally he helped organize was competing with Hollywood bigwigs.
“We don’t need movie stars, jugglers, singers, farm animals or whatever they have,” McAuliffe said of the Los Angeles event.
He also laughed when he declared to Biden: “If you win again, I’ll offer myself right now … to mow the White House lawn.”
In 2016, Hillary Clinton likened herself to Cassandra, the Greek mythologist who could see the future but no one believed her, saying, “That’s how I felt in 2016 when I was sounding the alarm about Donald Trump.”
But now, she said, “We all understand how dangerous it is to entrust the leadership of our country to him, his allies and those who support him. He has done so much damage.”
Clinton said she found it hard to understand why people who lived through the coronavirus pandemic and Trump’s presidency still supported the Republican Party, but “unfortunately, there are many Americans who seem willing to take that risk,” and called Trump a “clear and present danger.”
Bill Clinton thanked donors and said of the Biden campaign, “They will use their money well,” and that she has “seen him do this job with standards, with values, and with great impact.”
“Our supporters understand the stakes. Every dollar raised since Friday means more advertising, more organization and more direct contact with voters who will decide this close election in November. Meanwhile, Trump has been struggling for months with no funding or presence in battleground states,” said Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for the Biden reelection campaign.
Last weekend’s event in Los Angeles, which featured Biden and Obama as well as actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts, was the largest single fundraiser in Democratic Party history.
Biden has been on a fundraising ramp-up as Trump shows signs of gaining an advantage in the money game, including a $50.5 million fundraising rally in April for billionaire investor John Paulson’s Florida mansion.
The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee said they raised $141 million in May, supplemented by tens of millions of dollars in donations that poured in after Trump’s conviction in the hush-money criminal trial. The Biden campaign has not yet released its fundraising figures for May.
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Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed.
