Biden slams Supreme Court, rips into Trump at Los Angeles fundraiser (2024)

President Joe Biden took aim at the 'far out' conservative Supreme Court and blasted Donald Trump while appearing alongside former President Obama at a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night as protesters gathered outside.

The president was on the west coast to raise money for his reelection bid alongside Obama at the celebrity-packed event fresh off a trip to the G7 in Italy.

The event raised more than $30 million for the president's campaign according to a campaign official and was attended by Hollywood royalty including George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand.

During a program moderated by late-night host and comedianJimmy Kimmel, Biden, 81, focused in on abortion and the Supreme Court. He warned that the next president is likely to have new nominees to the country's highest court.

Biden called Trump getting to choose two more justices 'one of the scariest parts' of the Republican ex-president being elected to a second term and said there has never been a Supreme Court so far out of step.

The president also mentioned Justice Clarence Thomas, noting the conservative member had said the court, which overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022, should reconsider things such as in vitro fertilization fertilization (IVF) and contraception.

'Not on my watch,' Biden responded. 'Not on my watch.'

Seated alongside Obama at the Peaco*ck Theater in downtown Los Angeles, Biden and Kimmel also cracked some jokes about the president's predecessor and Republican opponent.

Kimmel pointed out how Biden said he ran to restore the soul of the nation: ‘it looks like we might need an exorcism - is that why you visited the pope?' referencing Biden's recent meeting with Pope Francis in Italy.

Biden brought up Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

'Remember the pandemic? He said just don’t worry just inject a little bleach,' the president said.

'It worked for me,' Kimmel quipped.

'It worked for [Trump],' Biden responded. 'It colored his hair.'

Obama praised his former vice president and issued his own warning about the upcoming presidential election.

'It's a reminder that we don't have to just vote against something in this election,' Obama said. 'We have someone to worry about, and there's a whole agenda that we should be concerned about, but we can take pride in affirming the extraordinary work that Joe has done.'

Obama, who also appeared with Biden for a fundraiser in New York City earlier this year as well as campaign videos, zeroed in on Trump's recent felony conviction in New York.

'We’ve normalized behavior that used to be disqualified,' he slammed the ex-president.

'We have the spectacle of the nominee of one of the two major parties siting in court and being convicted by a jury of his peers on 34 counts,' Obama said.

'His foundation is no allowed to operate because it was engaging in monkey business. You have his organization being prosecuted for not paying taxes,' Obama went on.

The 44th president reached out to people who are conservative and don't agree with him or Biden but believe in 'basic honesty.'

'There are certain standards and values we should stand for,' he said.

While Biden and Obama were rubbing elbows with celebrities inside, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the venue in Los Angeles.

The large crowd carried Palestinian flags and signs calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for the U.S. to stop providing aid to Israel.

It was the latest in a series of protests that have sprung up outside Biden's events since the war in Gaza began more than six months ago in response to Hamas' terror attack on Israel on October 7.