Hours before the event, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered to call for a cease-fire and for the U.S. to end financial and military aid to Israel.
President Biden’s arrival in Los Angeles for a weekend of campaign fundraising was greeted not just by well-heeled supporters, but hundreds of protesters who gathered outside a glitzy Westside fundraiser to demand a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
The Friday night fundraiser was held at the Holmby Hills home of James Costos, the U.S. ambassador to Spain under President Obama, and designer Michael Smith, the White House interior decorator during the Obama administration.
The star-studded event, headlined by musician Lenny Kravitz and co-hosted by filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner, was Biden’s first in Southern California since the end of the writers’ and actors’ strikes and the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
In an 11-minute speech to Democratic donors and elected officials, Biden did not address the Gaza conflict, instead focusing on the threat he said Donald Trump poses to democracy.
“The future of American democracy is at stake — literally,” Biden said. “It all is at stake. Let me be clear: Donald Trump poses many threats to the country, from the right to choose to civil rights to voting rights to America’s standing in the world. But the greatest threat Trump poses is to our democracy, because if we lose that, we lose everything.”
In a lush backyard surrounded by tall hedges, several hundred guests listened to live jazz, sipped cocktails and ate organic hot dogs made from grass-fed beef. Many guests had jackets or white pashmina shawls to guard against the 55-degree night.
Hours before the event, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators began gathering in a public park across the street, calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and for the United States to end financial and military aid to Israel.
As guests dressed in suits, ties and cocktail attire walked toward the fundraiser, protesters chanted at them, “Shame on you!” and, “What we want is total freedom.
