Biden to join Barack Obama, Bill Clinton at star-studded fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall

Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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WASHINGTON ― The stars are coming out for President Joe Biden's campaign fundraiser Thursday with former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Stephen Colbert, host of CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," will moderate an "armchair conversation" with Biden, Obama and Clinton at the high-dollar event at Radio City Music Hall in New York, according to the campaign.

Actress Mindy Kaling, who starred in the television shows "The Office" and "The Mindy Project," is set to host the program. The evening will feature musical guests Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, and Lea Michele.

The fundraiser is expected to be the most lucrative to date for Biden's reelection campaign, which has significantly outraised former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Former US President Barack Obama and US President Joe Biden participate in a rally in support of Democratic US Senate candidate John Fetterman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 2022. When Biden takes the stage with Obama at an election fundraiser in New York this week, it will be all smiles for a duo who collectively have spent nearly a dozen years in the White House. But while Biden, 81, will be glad to have the star power of Obama and also former Democratic president Bill Clinton at the event on Thursday, there will also be tensions with his former boss, whom he served as vice president for two terms. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Fundraiser guests who pay enough can have their portrait taken with the three presidents by world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, known for her pictures of celebrities.

Donors can also take part in a virtual conversation with the three presidents moderated by Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez.

The event is expected to raise at least $10 million and draw at least 3,000 people, Chris Korge, a veteran Democratic fundraiser and finance chair of the Biden Victory Fund, told NBC News. A photograph with all three presidents costs $100,000 and up, NBC reported, but the tickets to attend the program go for as little as $250 each.

Lizzo performs at Qudos Bank Arena on July 23, 2023, in Sydney, Australia.
Lizzo performs at Qudos Bank Arena on July 23, 2023, in Sydney, Australia.

Korge has organized the fundraiser alongside DreamWorks founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, the campaign's co-chair; Rufus Gifford, the campaign finance chair; and Anna Wintour, U.S. artistic director of Condé Nast.

The Biden campaign and other joint committees raised $53 million in February, giving the incumbent president $155 million on hand to spend − the most ever for a Democratic presidential candidate at this point in the election cycle.

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter @joeygarrison.

Co-Creator, Writer and Executive Producer Mindy Kaling arrives to attend the premiere of Netflix's "Never Have I Ever", Season Three, at the Westwood Village Theater in Los Angeles on August 11, 2022.
Co-Creator, Writer and Executive Producer Mindy Kaling arrives to attend the premiere of Netflix's "Never Have I Ever", Season Three, at the Westwood Village Theater in Los Angeles on August 11, 2022.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton to headline NYC fundraiser