Next week, US President Biden heads to New York City to participate in a fundraiser for his re-election campaign. The party is hosted by the former CEO of Blackstone, and the ticket price is $25,000 per person.
The fundraising ceremony is the first in the plans of the Biden campaign in New York, to be followed by another party hosted by George Logothetis, CEO of the global “Libra Group”, who supported former President Barack Obama, and is a regular donor to the Democratic Party. Biden campaign managers expect those concerts to bring in up to $2.5 million. Wall Street executives played a major role in supporting Biden in the 2020 elections to defeat Donald Trump, and provided more than $74 million to support his candidacy.
And the potential confrontation between Biden and Trump motivates major Democratic donors to increase their financial support for the Democratic president. The Biden campaign formulated its slogans for the 2024 campaign as a battle for democracy and against the decline of freedoms. Experts say Biden may succeed in motivating older donors, civil society leaders and businessmen, but he will still need to convince young voters who show little enthusiasm for him.
Money is the most powerful and influential weapon in electoral campaigns, whether presidential or legislative. Biden raised over $1 billion during the 2020 election; According to the “Open Secret Observatory”, while Trump raised $ 773 million. Biden’s campaign in 2020 was the first presidential campaign in American history to succeed in raising more than a billion dollars. Next July, the Biden campaign is scheduled to issue the first statement about the amount of donations it has received.
Although President Biden is the leading candidate for the Democratic Party, opinion polls indicate that 79 percent of voters want Biden to participate in televised primary debates with other candidates, such as Robert Kennedy and Marianne Williamson. The Democratic Party is unlikely to hold any debates involving Biden and his rivals. Analysts say that the high percentage of Democratic voters who want to watch primary debates between Biden and his rivals indicates that there is widespread dissatisfaction with having to choose Joe Biden as a major candidate for the 2024 race, and may indicate a lack of enthusiasm that will accompany the Biden campaign as the election date approaches.
Trump returns to CNN
For his part, former President Donald Trump ended the break with CNN, after agreeing to participate in an open session in the New Hampshire town hall, to be hosted by the channel next Wednesday, and voters will participate in it. This step represents a shift in Trump’s media strategy, and a change in the approach of the network close to the Democratic Party.
CNN’s announcement was met with widespread criticism among voters and democratic organizations, and the network was accused of giving Trump a platform “that he exploits to repeat his lies and hateful rhetoric.” And newspapers affiliated with the Democratic Party indicated that holding the event in the city hall, instead of an individual interview, “allows Trump to unleash misinformation and half-truths.”
On the other hand, CNN defended its decision, saying that it had set strict rules for the event, which falls within the framework of an old tradition of hosting prominent presidential candidates, and which is a crucial element in the network’s coverage of the election campaigns.
Analysts said that Trump’s decision to participate and submit to the channel’s and audience’s questions is a major shift in his dealings with the media and talk show hosts, and sends a message to Fox News that it is not the only player in the electoral race.
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