By Jeff Mason
NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Joe Biden and his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, headlined a fundraiser with former President Bill Clinton on Thursday, offering a robust defense of the House’s handling of the Gaza crisis White as protesters disrupted the event.
Biden, who traveled with Obama on Air Force One to New York, took part in a discussion with Clinton moderated by “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in front of thousands of guests. Organizers say the event raised more than $25 million for Biden’s reelection campaign in the United States.
But the fundraiser was punctuated by several protests inside the huge auditorium, with attendees rising at several points to shout during the discussion, referencing Biden’s support for Israel in the Hamas war that has killed more of 30,000 people in Gaza.
“Shame on you, Joe Biden!” one shouted.
Obama and Clinton offered a presidential perspective on the Gaza crisis that underlined the political reality of being in the White House.
A president must be able to support Israel and at the same time fight for Palestinians to have greater access to food, medical supplies and a future state, they said.
“It’s a lonely place,” Obama said. “One of the realities of the presidency is that the world is full of joy and beauty, but it also has a lot of tragedy and cruelty.”
People “understandably, often, want to feel a certain purity in terms of how those decisions are made,” he said. “But a president cannot afford this luxury.”
When a protester inside the theater interrupted Obama, the former president retorted: “You can’t just talk and not listen. . . . That’s what the other side does.”
The pair of former presidents also defended Biden’s economic stewardship, which gets low ratings in national polls.
Clinton said Biden’s economic numbers significantly surpassed those of the Trump administration.
“I believe in keeping score,” Clinton said. “He has been good for America” and deserves another term.
Before the event, the three leaders’ motorcade passed hundreds of demonstrators demonstrating against Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, another sign that some young voters and other progressives who voted for Biden in 2020 are furious at his halt support for Israel in its response to the crisis. October 7 Hamas attacks.
LIZZO, $500,000 TICKETS
The event featured musicians Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele. Some well-paid participants had their photos taken with the three presidents by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s Republican challenger in the November election, was also in the New York area on Thursday, attending the wake for a slain New York police officer.
Biden, 81, has faced concerns about his age and fitness for a second four-year term. Recent Reuters/Ipsos polls show his approval rating at 40% and in a tight race with Trump, 77, ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
The show of support from Biden’s predecessors was intended to demonstrate the party’s unity and the project’s fundraising strength.
Tickets for Thursday’s Biden event cost between $250 and $500,000, according to a Democrat familiar with the planning. More than 5,000 people were expected to attend.
Biden’s high-profile allies are trying to shore up his support despite opinion polls showing tepid enthusiasm for the president and at odds with a Republican Party in which many prominent figures oppose Trump.
Biden showed flashes of humor during the event. He referenced President Harry Truman’s advice that if you wanted a friend in Washington, get a dog. Biden joked that he took one and bit a Secret Service agent. The president’s dog, Commander, left the White House last year after a series of bites.
The event ended with each of the men wearing Biden’s trademark aviator sunglasses.
“Dark Brandon is real,” Biden shouted, referencing a meme about himself.
TRUMP ON LONG ISLAND
A short while ago on Long Island, east of New York, Trump attended the wake for Jonathan Diller, the policeman shot and killed during a routine traffic stop earlier this week in the city.
“These things can’t happen. We need law and order,” Trump, surrounded by grieving uniformed officers, told reporters gathered outside a funeral home in Massapequa.
Trump has sought to make support for police a focal point of his campaign while criticizing law enforcement agencies that target him.
He faces four criminal trials for his efforts to undermine the 2020 election, his mishandling of classified documents and his involvement in a “silence” scheme involving a porn star. He was fined hundreds of millions of dollars for overstating his net worth to lenders. He says he is innocent.
Biden has regularly outperformed Trump and is taking in more money than his rival in large donations and small donations of less than $200. Biden’s reelection effort raised more than $53 million in February and $10 million in the 24 hours after he addressed Congress on March 7.
Trump aims to raise $33 million at a fundraiser on April 6, a source familiar with the Republican’s plans told Reuters.
A Trump campaign adviser said Thursday that the candidate will not be able to match Biden’s totals, blaming the disparity on the Democrat’s “billionaire” supporters and painting a picture of a Trump campaign fueled by working-class supporters.