President Barack Obama will make another fundraising trip to Los Angeles next week.
The president will be in Los Angeles Thursday for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser, according to the White House. Specifics of the visit are expected to be released in the next few days.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Obama will attend a fundraiser hosted by ICM Partners co-founder Chris Silbermann and his wife, Julia Franz. Attending the roundtable discussion will cost $33,400 per couple, The Times reported.
It was unclear exactly when Obama would arrive and depart. He is expected to be back in Washington, D.C., on Friday, according to the White House.
Ninio Fetalvo, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, criticized the president’s planned fundraising trip, saying he should be focusing on other issues, such as Hillary Clinton’s recent admission that she used a private email system while serving as secretary of state.
“While President Obama will disrupt L.A. with traffic jams for another fundraiser, he should really be explaining why Hillary Clinton played by her own rules in his administration, causing an even greater disturbance for the American people,” Fetalvo said.
The president was last in Southern California Feb. 14-16, spending the Presidents Day weekend visiting friends and playing golf in the Coachella Valley.
Obama last visited the Los Angeles area in October, attending a pair of fundraisers and announcing the creation of a national monument in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The October fundraisers were Obama’s 30th and 31st in Los Angeles County as president. Bill Clinton conducted 36 and George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan eight each through the sixth years of their administrations, according to research by Brendan J. Doherty, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, for his book “The Rise of the President’s Permanent Campaign.”
George H.W. Bush conducted 10 and Jimmy Carter six during their single terms, according to Doherty.
Obama’s visit will be his 21st to Los Angeles or Orange counties since taking office in 2009. Obama has conducted fundraisers during 17 of his 20 trips to Los Angeles or Orange counties as president.
— City News Service