Biden arrives in LA for brief visit to boost re-election campaign

President Joe Biden arrives on Marine One at Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

LOS ANGELES – President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Los Angeles yesterday for a brief overnight visit to boost the president’s re-election campaign.

Air Force One landed at LAX at 3:25 p.m., and Biden was greeted on the tarmac by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, according to the White House. At 3:40 p.m., the president boarded Marine One en route to Santa Monica.

The White House said the president then headed to a campaign meeting in Bel Air, while Jill Biden joined the motorcade for her own event.

According to the media pool reporter, as Biden’s motorcade headed north on the San Diego (405) Freeway from Santa Monica Airport toward Bel Air, at least six vehicles with large Palestinian flags were spotted on the southbound side of freeway, which was not closed to traffic. Some passengers were observed hanging out the windows waving the flags as the motorcade drove north.

No further details of the president’s plans in the Los Angeles area were released, but Deadline reported that he planned to meet with Black entertainment industry leaders who are in town for Sunday’s Grammy Awards ceremony.

According to the report, citing a source familiar with the plans, Biden will discuss issues pertinent to his re-election bid and how the entertainment leaders can help mobilize voters.

The Bidens are scheduled to leave the Los Angeles area well before Sunday night’s Grammy ceremony, so they will not be attending the Crypto.com Arena event.

Deadline reported, however, that the Biden campaign plans to air an ad during the CBS telecast spotlighting abortion rights.

The president and his wife will depart from LAX on Sunday and head to Las Vegas for another “political event,” according to the White House.

The Bidens were last in the Southland 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.

“Anytime President Biden comes to town, he gets an up-close look at the ramifications of failed Democrat policies,” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement released Saturday.

“California continues to struggle under the weight of Bidenflation, brazen crime, failing schools, a fentanyl crisis and rampant homelessness thanks to their party’s reckless leadership that starts at the White House and is championed locally by Biden’s top surrogate and wannabe replacement, Gavin Newsom. It’s no wonder Biden’s disapproval rating is at a record high in
California. This November, voters will be ready to retire Biden and restore responsible governing to Washington.” (CNS)