Joe Biden cashes in on allure of box-office presidents

Democrats expect to raise $25m at star-studded New York event as Donald Trump attends funeral wake in city for policeman killed on duty.

Ex-presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton acknowledge Joe Biden during a fundraising event in New York City. Picture: AFP

Bill Clinton and Barack Obama joined Joe Biden in New York on Thursday night to help raise $US25m for the President’s re-­election campaign.

The star-studded event at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan was billed as a show of Democratic unity and financial muscle as Mr Biden prepares for his showdown with Republican candidate Donald Trump in ­November.

A spokesman for Mr Biden’s campaign said ahead of the event the “record” collection had been raised for the event, which featured conversation between him and Mr Obama, 62, and Mr ­Clinton, 77, hosted by Stephen Colbert, of The Late Show.

The two former presidents have taken a more active role in Mr Biden’s campaign in recent weeks.

The fundraiser was mocked by Republicans as an act of desperation when it was announced last month. With Mr Biden, 81, facing persistent questions about his age and mental fitness to serve a second term, there were claims that the Democrats had summoned the younger, more eloquent former presidents to prop up their elderly colleague.

Instead, the Biden campaign came into the evening with growing confidence after opinion polls and fundraising figures shifted in his favour: in a single evening, his campaign looked like outstripping the $US20.3m raised by Mr Trump in the whole of February.

Mr Trump is struggling to bankroll his White House campaign as his fundraising committees funnel money to cover his mounting legal bills. According to the latest campaign figures, Mr Biden raised twice as much as his rival in February and had $US155m in cash compared with Mr Trump’s $US41.9m.

Recent opinion polls also show Mr Biden gaining on Mr Trump in swing states.

Tickets for Thursday night’s fundraiser started at $US225, rising to $US500,000 for an exclusive reception with the three presidents. Donors could also pay $US100,000 for famed photographer Annie Leibovitz to take their photograph with Mr Biden, Mr Obama and Mr Clinton.

The event, planned in part by US Vogue editor Anna Wintour, included performances from singers such as Lizzo, Queen Latifah and Cynthia Erivo, with 500 selected guests continuing on to a party hosted by the first lady, Jill Biden, and the DJ D-Nice.

Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison said the appearance of the three presidents side by side underscored the unity in the party, in contrast with Mr Trump’s ­“extremism”.

“You will not see this happening on the other side,” he said. “You will not see an event with Donald Trump and George W. Bush, it’s just not happening.”

There was a reminder of a vulnerability for Mr Biden, however, with demonstrators demanding a ceasefire in Gaza protesting outside the venue – and several inside the hall shouting out before being ushered away. The President faces a growing protest vote in his own party, led by Arab Americans and left-wing groups furious at his refusal to demand a permanent ceasefire or shut off military support for Israel.

Facing lines of police and barricades around the venue, demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and chanted “Ceasefire now” and “Genocide Joe has got to go”.

Mr Trump appeared in hour’s drive away in New York at a memorial for Jonathan Diller, a police officer shot dead this week. He has placed lawlessness at the centre of his election campaign, blaming Mr Biden and the Democrats for crime rates in American cities, although statistics show that violent crime is dropping.

Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign spokesman, contrasted the two New York events featuring four presidents as Mr Trump left Florida for Long Island. “President Trump will be honouring the legacy of Officer Diller and paying respects to his family, friends, and the NYPD,” Cheung posted on Twitter/X. “Meanwhile, the Three Stooges – Biden, Obama, and Clinton – will be at a glitzy fundraiser.”

The Times