Biden To Campaign 24 Hours In LA, Motorcade Delays Expected

LOS ANGELES, CA — President Joe Biden is expected to fly into Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon for his second whirlwind Southern California tour this month.

The visit kicks off a three-day fundraising tour through the Golden State two weeks before the state's Super Tuesday presidential primary. It's likely to mean even more traffic delays on the rain-slicked roads of Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon as the presidential motorcade makes its way across the city, drawing protests along the way.

The president is expected to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday. From there he is expected to head to the home of Israeli American media mogul Haim Saban likely triggering protests over U.S. support for Israel in its war with Hamas, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Saban is a major Israel supporter as are several of the co-hosts of the event, which costs up to $250,000 per ticket, the Times reported. Past fundraisers with supporters of the war have drawn huge protest crowds with Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday around lunchtime, the president is expected to attend a private fundraiser in Culver City before heading to LAX for a flight to the Bay Area. He is expected to also deliver a policy speech near Los Angeles on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

The 24-hour Southland trip is likely to affect Westside and LAX area-traffic Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday.

This week's trip to Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area will mark Biden's third visit to California in just over two months for political events. He's trying to make up for lost time after largely avoiding the Democratic donor stronghold during last year's strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.

Biden will also make campaign stops in San Francisco and Los Altos Hills this week.

While the Bidens will be pursuing deep-pocketed donors this week, the campaign points to the number of smaller donations it has raised as an encouraging sign for the president.

The campaign says 97 percent of the 3 million donations it has received thus far were under $200 each. Biden has also received pledges from 158,000 “sustaining donors” who have committed to donating on a monthly basis. That's more than double the amount Biden had at this point in the 2020 cycle, when his cash-strapped campaign limped out of Iowa following a fourth place finish in the state's February caucuses.

The new totals include donations to Biden’s political operation and to a network of joint fundraising arrangements with the national and state Democratic parties. Biden’s 2020 campaign raised over $1 billion, and could need even more in a likely Trump rematch.

"This haul will go directly to reaching the voters who will decide this election," said Biden campaign senior communications adviser TJ Ducklo.

AAMER MADHANI, The Associated Press contributed to this report.