Biden heads to California for big Hollywood money haul

President Joe Biden kicks off a three-day, star-studded fundraising trip in California on Friday that a top campaign official boasted will rake in a record amount of cash for the Democratic president's 2024 re-election effort.

The trip comes a day after the Department of Justice filed new criminal charges against Biden's son, Hunter, accusing him of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending millions of dollars on a lavish lifestyle.

California - and the deep-pocketed entertainment industry — has long served as a major funding source for Democrats, but long actors and screenwriters strikes had a chilling effect on fundraising.

The end of the labor unrest has unlocked pent-up dollars, said Jeffrey Katzenberg, a movie mogul and campaign co-chair who has emerged as an influential voice in Biden's re-election effort.

"It will be the most successful day and a half for the campaign to date and likely one of the most successful day and a half's prior to a general election, where things sort of kick into a whole 'nother gear, that we've ever had out here for any candidate ever," Katzenberg said in an interview with Reuters.

US President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting. File photo

Biden will participate in two Los Angeles fundraisers that will include directors Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner and musicians Barbra Streisand and Lenny Kravitz. The California swing is part of a blitz of at least nine fundraisers Biden will hold before the end of the month.

The fundraisers in California and an earlier round in Boston are expected to raise at least $15 million, according to a source familiar with the events.

Katzenberg, who is helping organize one of the fundraisers, said the final number was still fluid.

"The number is big. I know that," said Katzenberg, who co-founded DreamWorks Animation.

Reuters