Washington
CNN
—
President Joe Biden will on Thursday join Barack Obama and Bill Clinton as the only two-term Democratic presidents, drawing on their star power as Biden seeks to join their ranks. The aim is to attract big-money donors.
In the most high-profile fundraiser so far this election cycle, Mr. Biden will join Mr. Obama and Mr. Clinton in a big-ticket fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York, where both former presidents is expected to participate in Biden's general election campaign. He said it would determine the future of American democracy.
The three presidents are scheduled to sit down with late-night show host Stephen Colbert. Tickets for the fundraiser range from $225 to $500,000. Some of the highest-paid guests will have their photos taken with the three presidents by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
More than 5,000 donors will attend the event, including celebrities such as Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, and Lea Michele.
The fundraiser will take place off-camera, but pool reporters will be able to cover the remarks of the three presidents.
The fact that three of the four living Democratic presidents will be in the same room, and the fact that 99-year-old Jimmy Carter is on hospice care and will not be in attendance, is a sign that Biden and the Democratic Party will not be in the race against him. This example illustrates that we believe there are important stakes at stake. His predecessor is former President Donald Trump.
President Trump also visited New York on Thursday to attend the vigil for NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed in Queens earlier this week. Diller died during a traffic stop on Monday.
“What happened is a very sad, sad event, and it's very scary. And it happens too often, and we're not going to let it go. It's impossible,” President Trump said outside the vigil. he told reporters.
Furthermore, he added: We have to go back to law and order and we have to do a lot of things differently because this is not working. ”
The former president's campaign hopes to surpass Biden's record next month. The April 6 event, which is expected to be attended by some of the Republican's biggest donors, is expected to raise at least $33 million, sources said.
While Thursday night's main event will be limited to big-ticket donors, the campaign is also hosting what it calls a separate “pre-program” for grassroots donors, campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said. will be the moderator, and Biden, Obama and Clinton will also appear. .
That star power seems to have paid off. The Biden campaign announced ahead of this fundraiser that it had raised more than $25 million, making it the most successful single political fundraiser to date in terms of amount raised. About a third of the $25 million came from small grassroots donations of $200 or less made online, a person familiar with the fundraising effort told CNN.
Supporters who donate $25 will be invited to attend a “Virtual Pre-Program for Grassroots Supporters” featuring three presidents.
Thursday's fundraiser is expected to be just the beginning of President Obama's involvement with the Biden campaign. The former president visited the White House last week to record a conversation with Biden that is expected to unfold steadily in the coming weeks.
He is expected to play a larger role in the Biden campaign near November, including visits to college campuses and key battleground states.
When Biden takes the stage, he is likely to be greeted with applause and applause from supporters who have spent hundreds of dollars to welcome him in New York. But ahead of the fundraiser, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of midtown Manhattan to protest Biden's support for Israel during the Gaza war and call for a ceasefire.
Earlier this week, Biden was interrupted by ceasefire protesters while in North Carolina, but acknowledged: “They have a point. We need to pay more attention to the Gaza Strip.” He also called for a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
This article has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Donald Judd, Brian Locks, Kristen Holmes and Fredreka Shorten contributed to this report.
