Biden enlists Obama, Clinton for $25m fundraiser event

President Biden, meanwhile, has increased the pace of his events since his State of the Union address early this month. But the fundraiser, with an expected 5000 donors, will be one of the largest crowds he has appeared before as president. It will expand an already significant cash advantage, too, raising in one night $US5 million more than Trump reported collecting in February.

“This historic raise is a show of strong enthusiasm for President Biden and Vice President Harris and a testament to the unprecedented fundraising machine we’ve built,” said a campaign co-chair, Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The day’s events underscored a central dynamic of the race: President Biden is campaigning with the force of the Democratic establishment behind his bid, as Mr Trump stands largely alone.

While Mr Trump has been endorsed by many Republicans in Congress, a small but persistent wing of the party has declined to support his third run for the White House. The only living former Republican president has not endorsed his bid, nor has Mike Pence, his former vice president.

President Biden faces a different problem. Nearly all Democratic Party officials, politicians and strategists stand behind his effort. Yet, he has faced sustained opposition from a vocal minority of progressives who have protested the war in the Gaza Strip, through protest votes and event disruptions.

On Thursday, a group of several hundred protesters marched through the rain to stand outside the fundraiser. “Biden, Biden, you’re a liar, we demand a cease-fire,” they chanted.

Inside the hall, the three presidents were scheduled to appear onstage before nearly 5000 attendees for a conversation moderated by late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert. A musical program, hosted by actress Mindy Kaling, will feature a series of celebrity endorsers including Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele.

Only a small group of press travelling with the President was allowed in the event and video footage by the news media was prohibited. Before the fundraiser, the three presidents participated in a joint interview on Smartless, a podcast hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes.

Mr Trump’s appearance struck a decidedly different tone. The former President spent about 30 minutes inside a funeral home in suburban Massapequa on Long Island, visiting with the widow and one-year-old son of Officer Jonathan Diller. Officer Diller was fatally shot during a traffic stop Monday.

While not an official campaign event, Mr Trump took the opportunity to press his tough-on-crime message. He stood in front of more than a dozen police officers and proclaimed the need for the country to “get back to law and order.”

His campaign pushed a different message, drawing a sharp contrast between Trump’s visit and the other political event happening in the region.

“President Trump will be honouring the legacy of Officer Diller,” Steven Cheung, a campaign spokesperson, said on social media.

Mayor Eric Adams of New York, who attended the wake after Mr Trump, told reporters that President Biden had called him to offer condolences that Mayor Adams said he would relay to the family. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said President Biden has supported law enforcement officers throughout his entire career.

“Violent crime surged under the previous administration,” she said. “The Biden-Harris administration have done the polar opposite, taking decisive action from the very beginning to fund the police and achieving a historic reduction in crime.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.