LOS ANGELES (CNS) – President Barack Obama traveled to Los Angeles today for a 23-hour visit that will include appearances at a pair of fundraisers, an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the usual traffic headaches for motorists on the westside. Obama landed aboard Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before 1:30 p.m., and was greeted as he got off the plane by Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. The three spoke for several minutes on the tarmac before Obama boarded a helicopter en route to his first destination. Garcetti told reporters at the airport the conversation focused on some of the issues that will be facing local voters in November, including a bond measure to combat homelessness and a transit sales tax extension.
The mayor noted that federal funding has played a key role in expanding the area’s transit system, including the recent Expo Line extension from Culver City to Santa Monica. After leaving the airport, Obama’s first stop was Hollywood, where taped an appearance on the late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Obama appeared on the show on March 12, 2015, when he faced light- hearted questioning on subjects such as visitors from space and whether he goes to the White House kitchen in the middle of the night in his underwear. Obama also used the appearance to condemn the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and denounce “folks who disregard and disrespect the other side, people who resort to violence.”
In a standard bit on the show, Obama also read mean tweets about himself. Obama is scheduled to speak at a $100,000-per-person evening fundraiser in Beverly Hills on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, at the home of DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife Marilyn, according to an invitation obtained by City News Service. He is scheduled to attend a fundraising roundtable discussion Tuesday on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee before flying back to Washington, D.C., according to the White House. The visit is Obama’s 26th to Los Angeles and Orange counties as president and the fundraisers will be his 42nd and 43rd in the region.
He conducted fundraisers during 22 of his past visits. The visit is his first since April 8 when he spoke at two fundraisers during a roughly 17-hour visit. The Katzenberg event will be the fourth Clinton campaign fundraiser in the Los Angeles area in seven weeks with a $100,000 price tag. Details of the president’s travels around the Southland are never released to the public, but his visit will trigger rolling street closures in Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles and Hollywood. Police have issued a list of areas motorists are being urged to avoid during the president’s visit. Natalie Strom, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said the traffic headache “is just the latest trouble President Obama has caused for hard-working Californians and their families.”
“For eight years, his policies have been suppressing wages and swelling regulations, leading to an economy whose stagnant growth fails to bring relief to those still searching for meaningful employment,” Strom said.
“As he fundraises for Hillary Clinton in the Southland, the president is only reminding voters that she promises to double down on these failed economic policies.”
CNS-10-24-2016 16:47