President Joe Biden returned to Los Angeles Tuesday for a roughly 24-hour Southland visit as he begins a California fundraising swing to benefit his reelection campaign.
According to the White House, Biden will be in California from Tuesday to Thursday, visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco and Los Altos Hills to take part in “several political engagements.”
Air Force One touched down at Los Angeles International Airport at about 3:30 p.m. Although the president normally travels from LAX to Santa Monica via helicopter, he was driven in a motorcade Tuesday, prompting a full shutdown of the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway from Westchester through West Los Angeles at the onset of the evening rush hour.
According to various reports, Biden plans to attend a Tuesday evening fundraiser hosted by longtime Democratic Party boosters Haim and Cheryl Saban and Casey Wasserman, a sports management executive and chairman of the LA 2028 Olympic Games planning group.
According to Deadline, tickets for the Tuesday event range from $3,300 to $250,000. Tickets priced at $25,000 include a photo opp with Biden.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Biden Victory Fund, which supports his reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Earlier Tuesday, the Biden-Harris campaign announced it had raised more than $42 million in January and reported it had $130 million in cash on hand, calling it the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the election cycle.”
Biden is expected to spend the night in the Los Angeles area, then speak at a midday event Wednesday in Culver City before flying to San Francisco.
Biden was in Los Angeles Feb. 3-4, taking part in a campaign meeting in Bel Air. Various reports indicated that Biden visited the home of film producer/director George Lucas and met with music industry executives to discuss ways of boosting his reelection bid. The Grammy Awards were in Los Angeles Feb. 4.
Also during that trip, first lady Jill Biden gave a five-minute speech at the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, emphasizing the importance of supporting Black entrepreneurship and the steps the president has taken in office to advance equity and dismantle racial barriers to accessing capital.
The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a nonprofit organization that asks businesses to commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands.
Previously, the Bidens were last in the Southland in early December, spending two days attending fundraising events. The president also attended a shiva at the residence of Lyn and Norman Lear, honoring the legendary television producer who died Dec. 5.