President Joe Biden on Thursday will join Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, the only living two-term Democratic presidents, aiming to use their star power to woo big-pocketed donors as Biden tries to join their ranks.
In what will be his most high-profile fundraiser so far this election cycle, Biden will join Obama and Clinton for a high-dollar fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as the two former presidents enter a general election campaign that Biden has said will determine the future of democracy in America.
The three presidents will sit for a conversation with late-night host Stephen Colbert. Tickets for the fundraiser range from $225 to $500,000. Some of the highest-dollar guests will have their photographs taken with the three presidents by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
More than 5,000 donors will attend the event, which also includes celebrities like Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele.
The fact that three of the four still-living Democratic presidents will be in the same room – Jimmy Carter, 99, is receiving hospice care and will not attend – exemplifies the crucial stakes Biden and Democrats believe hang in the balance in his contest against his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
Trump will also be in New York on Thursday, attending the Long Island wake of a NYPD officer who was slain in Queens earlier this week.
While the main events Thursday night are limited to the highest-paying donors, the campaign is also hosting what they described as a separate “pre-program” for grassroots donors, hosted by campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez and also featuring Biden, Obama and Clinton.
That star power seems to have paid off. The Biden campaign said ahead of the fundraiser it had raised more than $25 million – making it the most successful single political fundraiser ever in terms of dollars raised. Around a third of that $25 million came from small-dollar, grassroots donations of $200 or less made online, sources familiar with the fundraising efforts told CNN.
Supporters who chip in $25 are invited to participate in a “virtual pre-program for grassroots supporters” featuring the three presidents.
The fundraiser on Thursday is expected to be just the beginning of Obama’s involvement in Biden’s campaign. The former president went to the White House last week to record content with Biden that they plan to steadily roll out over the next few weeks.
He is expected to take a larger role in Biden’s campaign – including traveling to college campuses and crucial battleground stakes – closer to November.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny and Donald Judd contributed.
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