NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars teamed up Thursday night to deliver a rousing New York embrace of President Joe Biden that hauled in a record-setting $25 million for his reelection campaign.
The mood at Radio City Music Hall was electric as Obama said he was offering “a positive case for someone who has done an outstanding job as president.” Clinton said Biden “deserves another term and democracy around the world needs it.”
Biden himself went straight at Donald Trump, saying his expected GOP rival’s ideas were “a little old and out of shape.”
Host Stephen Colbert called the trio “champion talkers” and joked that the three presidents had come to town “and not one of them is here to appear in court,” a dig at Trump’s many legal troubles.
The eye-popping fundraising haul was a major show of Democratic support for Biden at a time of persistently low poll numbers. The president will test the power of the campaign cash as he faces off with Trump, who proved with his 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton that he didn’t need to raise the most money to seize the presidency.
The Radio City Music Hall event was a gilded exclamation mark on a recent burst of presidential campaign travel. Biden has visited several political battlegrounds in the three weeks since his State of the Union address served as a rallying cry for his reelection bid. Thursday’s event also brought together more than three decades of Democratic leadership.
Obama hitched a ride from Washington to New York aboard Air Force One with Biden. They waved as they descended the plane’s steps at John F. Kennedy International Airport and got into the motorcade for the ride into midtown Manhattan. Clinton met them at the event.
The music hall’s marquee was lit up and read, “An Evening with Joe Biden Barack Obama Bill Clinton.” NYPD officers lined surrounding streets as part of a heavy security presence for the event.
Read the full article here
