OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The media continues to tout how far ahead President Joe Biden is in fundraising against former President Donald Trump because he is not ahead of him anywhere else, but that may be changing too.
Billionaire donors are getting set to shower the former president with donations starting in April, Fox News reported.
The former president will be in Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend when many billionaire donors at the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner” as he starts to cut the gap between himself and the president in fundraising.
“The event will be led by hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson and will be co-chaired by hedge-fund tycoon Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, oil tycoon Harold Hamm, hotelier Robert Bigelow, and casino mogul Steve Wynn,” the report said.
“Bigelow and Hamm had previously funneled money to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his ill-fated presidential run against Trump in the primary. Hamm previously donated to former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign as well,” Fox said, adding:
Scott Bessent, founder of the investment firm Key Square Group and former chief investment officer at George Soros’s Soros Fund Management, will also be co-hosting the event. Bessent has been rumored to be a potential cabinet nominee in a second Trump administration.
The event will also be attended by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Strategas Jason Trennert, one of Wall Street’s top thought leaders.
Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts and New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson are also expected to be involved along with Wilbur Ross, Trump’s former secretary of commerce.
The top donation at the event is “Chairman Level,” which costs $824,600 and allows the donor to be seated at the same table as the former president.
“Now that President Trump won the primaries, defeating all 10 contenders by a landslide, I think it’s time for Republicans to unite behind him,” Paulsen said to Bloomberg. “For that reason, I’m hosting this inaugural event to galvanize the broad support there is for the president.”
The event comes after President Biden raised around $26 million in a star-studded New York fundraiser, which he skipped the funeral of a fallen police officer to attend.
Thousands of New York City police officers lined streets near the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church to say farewell to slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, 31, in an overwhelming display of unity on Saturday, just days after President Joe Biden was ripped for attending a swanky fundraiser following the officer’s murder.
Video and images from the event showed throngs of uniformed NYPD officers lining streets ahead of the funeral procession to honor Diller, who was shot and killed in Queens during a routine traffic stop last week by a career criminal with several prior arrests, including nine felony charges.
Diller left behind a one-year-old son and a young wife.
Former President Donald Trump was invited to attend Diller’s wake while the NYPD sergeant’s association told Democratic officials in the state to stay away. Also, reports say he gave a huge donation to the Tunnel to Towers charity to pay off the Diller family’s mortgage, though that has not been confirmed by Conservative Brief.
Officer Diller was posthumously promoted to Detective First Grade. NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban assigned him shield No. 110, which symbolically represents his son’s birthday.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, President Biden traveled to New York City with former Presidents Obama and Clinton for a multimillion-dollar, star-studded fundraiser, while Trump attended Detective Diller’s wake, providing more fuel for critics of Biden who, according to some reports, had yet to even contact Diller’s wife and family to express condolences.
“Biden does a fancy NYC fundraiser in the midst of chaotic left-wing street protests–looks like limousine liberalism plus the breakdown of law and order. And Trump attends the wake of a slain NYPD police officer on Long Island,” former conservative magazine publisher William Kristol wrote on the X platform. He also called it an “unfortunate day politically for the Democrats.”
The star-studded fundraiser hosted by Biden in New York City was interrupted multiple times by protesters inside and outside the event, who clashed with NYPD officers, Fox News added.