President Barack Obama is back in California to snarl traffic and collect even more Hollywood money.
The president will kick off a series of Golden State fundraisers tonight, the 14th such trip since he took office in 2009, according to Deadline.com.
The main event of the fundraising swing finds Obama picking up the Ambassador for Humanity award at the USC Shoah Foundation’s 20th anniversary gala. Director Steven Spielberg created the foundation to record Holocaust survivor stories from survivors of the Nazi concentration camps.
The award comes just days after Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry, likened Israel to an “apartheid state.”
Obama won’t be alone when he makes his fundraising drive to some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bruce Springsteen, Conan O’Brien, David Geffen and George Lucas.
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi will join the President at the Horn event for the bluntly titled “House Senate Victory Fund.” Obama has a $32,400 a ticket intimate roundtable fundraiser scheduled for tomorrow morning at the Beverly Hilton as well before getting back on Air Force One for more fundraisers in San Diego and San Jose….
With tickets going from $1500 for a single to $100,000 for a 1-seat VIP table, the gala comes just days after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the train wreck of a routine by headliner Joel McHale. Set to speak around 8:30 PM or so, Obama will be reunited tonight with last year’s WHCD star Conan O’Brien. The TBS late nighter is set to host the USC Shoah event. Schindler List lead Liam Neeson will be there and Bruce Springsteen will perform at around 7:30 PM.