Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Barack Obama to headline Biden fundraiser
By Kevin Liptak, CNN
(CNN) — President Joe Biden’s campaign will deploy Hollywood star power at a fundraiser in Los Angeles next month – with Barack Obama adding some additional Democratic wattage.
The event – set to feature the former president, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, among others – will seek to expand Biden’s cash advantage against former President Donald Trump, a Biden campaign official told CNN.
His campaign plans to run a contest for supporters that features Clooney and Roberts, who have appeared in several movies together since the 2001 heist caper “Ocean’s Eleven.” The movie stars also plan to appear on social media posts and digital ads promoting Biden’s campaign. The plans were first reported by NBC News.
Obama has already participated in one fundraiser for Biden: March’s mega-event, alongside former President Bill Clinton, at Radio City Music Hall in New York, which drew in $26 million. Obama is expected to ramp up campaign efforts as the election nears.
News of the star-studded fundraiser came as the Biden campaign raised $10 million over 24 hours during the president’s West Coast swing last week, according to a source familiar. Biden participated in four fundraisers, two in the Bay Area and two in the Seattle area.
Biden’s figures for last month will be released in the coming week.
The president’s cash advantage over Trump has been one of the unquestionable bright spots of his campaign. A mostly uncontested Democratic primary allowed Biden to consolidate support among Democratic donors early, compared with the fight for donors among the GOP field.
The last filings available, for March, showed Biden with nearly twice the amount of cash in his coffers than Trump. Biden’s campaign has used the money on television ads, staffing in battleground states and travel.
Now that Trump has clinched the GOP nomination, however, his fundraising has accelerated. He has raised tens of millions of dollars at individual events over the last several weeks, including a record $50.5 million at an April fundraiser in Florida. Trump’s advisers told donors earlier this month that he brought in $76 million in April.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
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