President Joe Biden returned to Los Angeles on Tuesday to begin a California fundraising swing.
According to the White House, Biden will be in California from Tuesday to Thursday, visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco and Los Altos Hills to take part in “several political engagements.”
He was scheduled to speak Wednesday in Culver City about student debt forgiveness. The White House said Wednesday it plans to forgive $1.2 billion in student debt for more than 150,000 borrowers enrolled in its new repayment program, called the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan.
The president arrived in Culver City after a stop with Los Angeles' mayor at CJ's Cafe in South Los Angeles.
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Air Force One touched down at Los Angeles International Airport at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday with Biden greeted by Mayor Karen Bass and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles.
Although the president normally travels from LAX to Santa Monica via helicopter, he was driven in a motorcade Tuesday, prompting a full shutdown of the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway from Westchester through West Los
Angeles at the onset of the evening rush hour.
Biden spoke for 17 minutes at a fundraiser at the home of Israeli American media mogul Haim Saban in the gated Beverly Park community, near Mulholland Drive.
According to Deadline, tickets for the Tuesday event ranged from $3,300 to $250,000. Tickets priced at $25,000 include a photo opp with Biden. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Biden Victory Fund, which supports his reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Biden was in Los Angeles Feb. 3-4, taking part in a campaign meeting in Bel Air. Various reports indicated that Biden visited the home of film producer/director George Lucas and met with music industry executives to discuss ways of boosting his reelection bid. The Grammy Awards were in Los Angeles, Feb. 4.
Also during that trip, first lady Jill Biden gave a five-minute speech at the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, emphasizing the importance of supporting Black entrepreneurship and the steps the president has taken in office to advance equity and dismantle racial barriers to accessing capital.
The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a nonprofit organization that asks businesses to commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands.
The Bidens were last in southern California in early December, spending two days attending fundraising events. The president also attended a shiva at the residence of Lyn and Norman Lear, honoring the legendary television producer who died Dec. 5.
