During the Biden-Obama debate, moderated by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Biden spoke harshly about the political violence that Trump has suggested could erupt if he does not win the election.
“Institutions matter. What he did on January 6th, and now he’s literally saying that if he doesn’t win, there will be a bloodbath. It’s outrageous. What he’s saying is outrageous,” Biden said.
Biden then added, “The idea that he’s actually threatening retaliation. This is the United States of America. You never thought you’d ever hear that?”
The fundraiser was hosted by Kimmel, Obama, actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Actress and singer Barbra Streisand introduced Jill Biden, who delivered her most direct attack on Trump to date.
She described her husband as someone who “respects the rule of law and doesn’t try to bend it to his will.”
“Or,” she continued, referring to Trump, “you can choose to wake up every morning with just one person who only cares about you: yourself.”
The Biden campaign called Saturday’s event at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater the largest fundraiser in Democratic Party history, raising more than $25 million, beating the previous fundraiser held in March at New York’s Radio City Music Hall that featured three living presidents — Biden, Obama and Bill Clinton.
The Hollywood fundraiser came after months of polling that showed Biden and Trump are effectively deadlocked, with polls showing few voters wanting a rematch between the two men, both of whom have already served one term in the White House and run for president at least twice.
Trump has been closing the fundraising gap with Biden in recent weeks, likely leveraging his historic conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to adult film actresses. Still, much of Trump’s fundraising should go toward legal costs related to several pending lawsuits against him.
While much of the discussion focused on Trump’s rhetoric and the threat it poses to democratic institutions, there were also some light-hearted moments at Saturday’s fundraiser.
Obama, the first black president, commented on Trump’s comments that he has done more for black people than any president since Abraham Lincoln. “One of the things he’s done, for example, is made them feel even better about the first black president,” Obama said.
Yet despite the show of Democratic unity, there were signs of opposition: Police in riot gear stood outside the event and pro-Palestinian protesters lined the theater. Biden’s staunch support for Israel has posed political challenges, making it difficult to hold large public events since Israel’s war with Hamas began in October and he has been met with protesters at nearly every event.
A few weeks before the fundraiser, Clooney called a senior White House adviser to complain about the president’s criticism of the International Criminal Court’s actions against Israeli leaders. The case was handled by Clooney’s wife, Amal Clooney. Clooney expressed concern about Biden’s condemnation of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant requests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, particularly his use of the word “outrageous.” International Criminal Court prosecutors had also sought arrest warrants against top Hamas leaders.
The actor was particularly upset that the administration initially supported ICC sanctions because it would have exposed his wife to possible punishment – though the White House later backed away from the idea of ICC sanctions.
But Saturday’s fundraiser kept the focus on the threat of Trump, with Kimmel at one point asking Biden and Obama whether the country was suffering from “Trump amnesia” — forgetting the chaos and consequences of Trump’s time in the White House, which he described as “like a colonoscopy” that people know exists but would prefer to forget.
“Remember the pandemic?” Biden said. “He said, ‘Don’t worry. We’re just going to inject a little bit of bleach,'” Biden said.
“It worked for me,” Kimmel replied.
Saturday’s fundraiser caps a busy trip for Biden, who flew directly from Italy to Los Angeles to attend the Group of Seven summit and earlier to France to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings. The president has also been to Wilmington, Delaware, several times in recent days to support his son, Hunter, who was convicted last week of lying on a federal firearms declaration and illegally possessing a firearm for 11 days.
Biden will likely spend the next week focused on preparing for his debate with Trump on June 27, with both candidates hoping to use the event to shake up the race and impress voters.
