Over $30 million was raised for President Joe Biden’ s reelection campaign in just one night, with former White House residents and Hollywood celebrities sharing the stage for what ended up being a record-breaking Democratic fundraising haul. At the same time, A-list headliners Jimmy Kimmel and former President Barack Obama , along with Biden, took turns criticizing former President Donald Trump for his dubious past, his history of allegedly deceiving the American people, his recent criminal conviction on 34 charges, and the purported threats of violence and retaliation should he win the election in November, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Biden did not even take a moment before jumping in to slam his predecessor, with Biden commenting right off the bat, “I could have done nothing and done better than him.” Kimmel wasted no time in teasing the ‘stable genius’ either. Kimmel has long traded barbs with Trump and frequently used him as a punchline everywhere, from his late-night program to the Oscar stage. He did not hold back at the star-studded event, calling Trump an ‘orange Julius Ceaser.’
Julia Roberts and George Clooney, co-chairs of the big Biden fundraiser in LA, with Presidents Biden and Obama. pic.twitter.com/Nl6R3Q2ceo
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 16, 2024
But it was Obama who really ripped into Trump, especially on the basis of the former President’s historic hush money conviction, per The New York Times . “Look, part of what has happened in the last several years is we’ve normalized behavior that used to be disqualified,” Obama said. “The other spectacle of the nominee of one of the two major parties is sitting in court and being convicted by a jury of his peers on 34 counts.”
Obama tonight with his VP. You won’t see Trump with his VP because he tried to get him killed. pic.twitter.com/1QttN3oPYt
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) June 16, 2024
Obama went on to criticize Trump for his previous financial indiscretions as well. “You have his foundation, it’s not allowed to operate because it was engaging in monkey business and not actually philanthropic. You had this organization being prosecuted for not paying taxes. … There was a time when we had certain core values that we agreed with. We believed in basic honesty. We believed in paying your taxes. We believed in making sure that we didn’t make fun of [prisoners of war], that we did not try to politicize our military, that we respected the ballot.”
Biden was questioned by Kimmel about whether there was Trump ‘amnesia’ across the nation, to which Biden added his own Trump barbs. “Remember the pandemic? He said, ‘Don’t worry. Just inject a little bleach in the body.’” Kimmel joked that it worked for him, and Biden added, “It worked for [Trump]; it colored his hair.”
That’s a wrap on record-setting Democratic fundraiser for Joe Biden’s reelection campaign (netting $28M). Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden offer final waves to Peacock Theater crowd as Obama then grabs Biden’s hand to lead him offstage following 40-minute… pic.twitter.com/xbE2jf3jdz
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) June 16, 2024
Kimmel then questioned Obama what he thought of Trump’s assertion that he had done more for Black people than any president since Abraham Lincoln, mockingly referring to Trump as ‘President Danye West.’ Obama made his feelings known when he said, “Although one thing he did, for example for Black people, was make them feel even better about the first Black president.”