POLITICO Nightly: The Hollywood stars are out for Biden

 

BY EMMY MARTIN Presented by  Actress Julia Roberts and actor George Clooney arrive for the premiere of "Ticket to Paradise" at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, Calif., on Oct. 17, 2022. | Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images STAR WARS — George Clooney and Julia Roberts are beseeching you — chip in $25 to Democrats’ fundraising operation today to enter their “Premiere Night with the Presidents ” contest. The fundraising blast, which has shown up consistently in inboxes over the past week, is the clearest sign that the Democratic Hollywood machine is cranking back into gear with the presidential election just five months away. In recent weeks, actor Robert DeNiro showed up in lower Manhattan for a press conference at the Biden campaign’s behest. Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame made a White House briefing room appearance to ask if he could call Biden “JoeBi-Wan Kenobi.” Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris on a recent trip to Michigan, a key swing state. Next up is a star-studded June 15 fundraiser in Los Angeles where late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel will interview President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Barack Obama, along with special guests Clooney and Roberts. It’s the latest indication that Hollywood, long a significant part of the Democratic coalition, is beginning to focus its attention on an election where Biden has consistently trailed in the polls against former President Donald Trump. “We’ve all been kind of freaking out since 2020,” said David Mandel, executive producer of “Veep” and a longtime Los Angeles resident. “You know what I mean? It wasn’t like that was a cakewalk.” Mandel explained that he has seen — and felt — an increased sense of urgency among Democrats in Los Angeles with the prospect of Trump’s return to the White House. When Trump defeated Hillary Clinton eight years ago, Mandel said he was shocked. “It made me think to myself that I could have done more, I could have sent more letters, I could have been more public and I could have given more money,” said Mandel. “And I wasn’t going to let that happen again.” Hollywood has historically served as a money machine for the Democratic Party, and some of its most high profile stars have been vigorous supporters of Democratic nominees. In the last presidential election cycle, individuals in the television, music and movie industries contributed more than $104 million to Democrats, compared to just over $12 million for Republicans, according to non-profit Open Secrets . MAKE SURE TO CHECK OPEN SECRETS FOR  YOURSELF TO REVIEW CANDIDATES!      Biden isn’t exactly inspiring the entertainment industry to action. It’s more about distaste for the alternative. Alex Gregory, a writer who worked with Mandel on “Veep” and “White House Plumbers,” said the choice between Biden and Trump — which he views as “malaise or chaos” — has made him nervous. “Nobody’s excited about Biden the way that they were about Obama and the way they were about Bill Clinton,” said Gregory. While splashy endorsements from liberal stars (and the attendant backlash from Republicans) traditionally come in September and October, the familiarity of the two nominees and the Democrats’ anxiety are accelerating the process this year. “There’s a little bit of a different dynamic at play this cycle,” said Democratic political consultant Alyssa Cass. Former Biden speechwriter Matt Tillman, who began a volunteer group of Democratic actors, producers and writers in 2017, said he has seen Democrats mobilizing on their anxiety this year. The private working group, which focuses on increasing voter turnout in swing states, has an email list of more than 300 people. It hosts frequent Zoom meetings with several dozen entertainment professionals to talk strategy. He has noticed an increase in Hollywood Democrats asking how they can increase their political engagement over the last few months. “It’s a very small number of people who are freaked out and more numbers of people like, ‘How can I help?’” said Tillman. While established movie stars and industry titans will be front and center at next week’s Biden fundraiser, a more youthful face of Hollywood has enlisted in the effort to shore up the president’s sagging support among young voters. In one example, Lexi Underwood , a 20-year-old actor known for her role in “ Little Fires Everywhere,” recently worked with the Biden campaign to register voters in Nevada, where the president is trailing in the polls. And a new Biden-allied super PAC is leaning on millennial and Gen Z writers, directors and producers to help create content designed to pitch the oldest American president in history to hard-to-reach voters under 30 years old. The Biden campaign declined to provide further details about its starry upcoming fundraiser. Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, said they are working with a “wide range of trusted messengers” to reach voters. Cass suggests star power could matter more in 2024 than ever because of celebrities’ increased online influence and ability to connect with individuals virtually. “The people you’re trying to persuade,” she said, “are not reading the news, or are reading the news less, are on social more, and they’re really hard to reach.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @emmymrtin .   A message from eBay: What makes eBay different from our peers? We don’t compete against the small businesses who rely on our marketplace. In fact, we’ve invested billions into developing tools and innovations that make it easier for sellers to succeed, providing access to the same technologies available to large retailers. Learn how we’re powering America’s small business economy at eBaysmallbiz.com.   WHAT'D I MISS? — Hunter Biden found guilty on federal gun charges: Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was found guilty today of three felony charges stemming from his purchase of a handgun in 2018. Biden, 54, is the first child of a sitting U.S. president ever to be convicted in a criminal trial. The president said last week that he would not pardon his son. The jury of six men and six women issued its unanimous verdict after three hours of deliberations. Biden remained perfectly still as a court clerk read the verdict aloud. Before leaving the courtroom, he hugged his lawyers and kissed his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. He and his wife, along with first lady Jill Biden, departed from the courthouse a few minutes later in Secret Service SUVs. — Garland defends DOJ against attacks: ‘This must stop’: Attorney General Merrick Garland called the increasing attacks against the Department of Justice “dangerous to our democracy ” in a Washington Post op-ed published this morning. In the piece, Garland defended the DOJ against recent threats made by allies of former President Donald Trump to defund the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting Trump on charges of amassing classified documents and blocking an investigation into the matter as well as attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Garland described a department that was facing conspiracy theories and threats of violence “like never before.” — Federal judge strikes Florida ban on gender-affirming care for children: A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s new restrictions on gender-affirming treatment for children are unconstitutional , and that Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican lawmakers who supported them were not acting in the interest of public health. By refusing to allow children to access treatments, Tallahassee-based district court Judge Robert L. Hinkle wrote in a ruling handed down Tuesday that DeSantis and Republicans who voted for the measure responded in a way that was similar to racism and misogyny.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY .     NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 ‘DISTRACTION’ — Former President Donald Trump’s campaign cast Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict on felony gun charges today as a “distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family,” while not mentioning President Joe Biden’s son by name.  “This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a prepared statement. “Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit.” TRUMP ON THE HILL — Former President Donald Trump is slated to meet with the House GOP conference Thursday. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee will address members just weeks ahead of the party’s convention at a Republican-only club on Capitol Hill. Trump has locked down support from most Republican House members. The former president is expected to have other meetings with lawmakers this week, including with Senate Republicans. Senate GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said they plan to talk about their “strategic governing agenda in 2025.”   A message from eBay:     AROUND THE WORLD A worker polishes an Audi on the sidelines of the annual press conference of German car giant Volkswagen on March 14, 2023, in Berlin. | John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images WAR GAMES — Germany has launched an 11th-hour bid to avert a full-scale trade war between Europe and China, resisting French calls to hit Chinese electric vehicles with punitive duties. With a decision by the European Commission imminent, both Paris and Berlin have ramped up their lobbying efforts — with conflicting messages on just how tough Ursula von der Leyen’s executive should get on Beijing. The EU executive is expected to inform Chinese EV-makers on Wednesday of temporary duties resulting from its probe into unfair state subsidies. EU member countries would then vote this fall to confirm the duties — making it vital for von der Leyen to pitch them at a level that the bloc’s two heavyweights can live with. FRENCH ROAST — An audacious attempt to unite France’s center and far-right parties in this month’s snap election descended into chaotic backbiting and recriminations, in a rare piece of good news for French President Emmanuel Macron. The leader of France’s center-right Les Républicains triggered a firestorm within his own party today for suggesting cooperation with the far right, while a separate initiative to build an alliance between the country’s two leading far-right parties also collapsed. Macron called a shock legislative election on Sunday night after the far-right National Rally party trounced his liberal Renaissance party in the EU election by a margin of 31.4 percent to 14.6 percent. O CANADA — When Justin Trudeau meets Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Italy this week, Trudeau will probably not ask whether the United States is at risk of erupting in civil war in the next few years. A think tank housed within Trudeau’s government is already pondering that question . In a spring report titled “Disruptions on the Horizon,” a quiet office known as Policy Horizons Canada proposed American civil war as a scenario that Ottawa should consider preparing for. This hypothetical was tucked into the middle of the 37-page document, which sketched the possibility in 15 spare words: “U.S. ideological divisions, democratic erosion, and domestic unrest escalate, plunging the country into civil war.” It’s an unsettling thing to find out your immediate neighbor is getting nervous about the possibility of gruesome violence in your home.   JOIN US ON 6/13 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE : As Congress and the White House work to strengthen health care affordability and access, innovative technologies and treatments are increasingly important for patient health and lower costs. What barriers are appearing as new tech emerges? Is the Medicare payment process keeping up with new technologies and procedures? Join us on June 13 as POLITICO convenes a panel of lawmakers, officials and experts to discuss what policy solutions could expand access to innovative therapies and tech. REGISTER HERE .     NIGHTLY NUMBER 2.6 percent The World Bank’s new estimate for global economic growth in 2024 , an increase from the bank’s January prediction of 2.4 percent global growth. The change is based largely on the continued strength of the U.S. economy, and it would match the global economy’s 2.6 percent expansion in 2023. RADAR SWEEP PAY FOR PLAY — There is an ongoing Adderall shortage in the United States. Enough that a new venture has popped up where people pay as much as $180 to find the medicine , which is commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The costs of the efforts to find the drug are not covered by insurance; the company, Insito Health, operates a service they call Medfinder. They use cheap labor from places like the Philippines to do the often time-consuming work of sourcing prescription drugs that are in high demand and short supply. Emanuel Maiberg reports for 404Media on the way that this company is using the overseas gig economy with real results. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1990: Luther Campbell, aka Luke Skyywalker, lead singer of the rap group 2 Live Crew, is surrounded by a sea of microphones at Miami International Airport. Campbell and fellow band member Chris Wong Won were arrested on obscenity charges after their concert in Hollywood, Fla., an arrest that sparked questions of freedom of speech in America. They were ultimately found not guilty. | Chris O'Meara/AP Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .   A message from eBay: For decades, eBay has made it possible for any American to pursue their small business dreams. How? By supporting sellers, and not competing against them. It’s why we provide innovations like AI listing tools and data driven insights; we’re helping ensure everyone – not just large retailers – can benefit from the e-commerce revolution. In fact, 43% of our sellers live in small towns and rural areas. The billions we’ve invested in making the global market accessible to people across America means passion, not location, is the key driver to success. See how we’re helping millions of small businesses and entrepreneurs transform a good idea into a good living at eBaysmallbiz.com.     Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   FOLLOW US

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