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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is teaming up with predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton next month for a New York fundraiser aimed at powering up donations for his reelection campaign. The threesome traded social media posts to reveal their plans.
The event is set for March 28, and though the Biden campaign says it hasn’t settled on a venue, it is considering larger sites that would maximize attendance. That would be a break from Biden’s usual campaign stops, which have tended to feature smaller groups of supporters and donors.
“Folks – I’ll be in NYC on March 28th to support @JoeBiden. Who’s coming with me? Chip in for your chance to join,” Obama posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, over a picture of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the hand-written message “Let’s finish the job” next to Biden’s signature.
Clinton responded ironically, “Count me in. Who else is going to be there?” and Biden answered jokingly “You guys know you can just call me next time, right?”
Obama, Clinton and Jimmy Carter are the only living Democratic former presidents, but the 99-year-old Carter is in hospice care at his home in Georgia. Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, died in November and her funeral was one of the rare times Biden, Obama and Clinton have appeared together prior to next month’s fundraiser.
Word of the upcoming gathering came a day before Biden headed to New York for three smaller Manhattan fundraisers.
The president has intensified fundraising efforts since December. His campaign said Tuesday that January produced its highest monthly donation total since launching in April 2023, breaking monthly records previously set in December and November of last year.
The campaign said that last month’s haul was buoyed by a write-in campaign that won Biden New Hampshire’s unsanctioned Democratic primary on Jan. 23. New Hampshire Democrats violated a new primary calendar championed by Biden, and he responded by refusing to campaign there or have his name appear on the ballot, and yet still won via write-in.
The president captured more than 96% of the votes cast on Saturday, when South Carolina’s primary formally kicked off the Democratic primary. He’s also heavily favored against little-known challengers during Nevada’s Democratic primary held on Tuesday.
Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty said his reelection bid “continues to show strong and early action,” which he said demonstrates that “our coalition is mobilized around the stakes of this election.”
The president is no stranger to tapping New York’s big donor circuit. Before Wednesday’s events, he held two Manhattan fundraisers whose hosts included Wall Street executives last summer. Biden also told a Broadway theater filled with entertainment industry stars and donors in September that former President Donald Trump, the leader in the 2024 Republican primary, was determined to destroy the nation.
While traveling in California and Nevada over the weekend, the president attended a fundraising meeting in Los Angeles’ upscale Bel Aire neighborhood. He also spoke at a reception to raise campaign funds in Henderson, outside Las Vegas, where he told donors he had to win reelection and help Democrats hold the Senate and win back the House majority so “we can say we saved American democracy.”
Biden’s more recent travels, however, have begun featuring interruptions from protesters who believe the administration has been too supportive of Israel in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Demonstrators have frequently interrupted Biden lately, including when he addressed a Virginia rally promoting the defense of abortion rights. Many of his recent events with donors, meanwhile, drew large groups of protesters outside who staged demonstrations loud enough to be heard from close to the site where Biden was speaking.
Biden, the Democratic National Committee and their affiliated entities reported raising more than $97 million in the final three months of last year and having $117 million to close out 2023. They said it was a record among all Democratic candidates at this point in the cycle.
Trump’s political operation amassed about $130 million in the final months of last year but after spending heavily, headed into 2024 with more than $42 million.
Will Weissert, The Associated Press