Biden’s back in the Bay Area Tuesday, and is scheduled to swing into San Francisco on Wednesday, in what appears to largely be a fundraising swing with a smattering of technology policy thrown in.
President Joe Biden did not visit San Francisco much throughout his first term — until 2023. You’ll recall Biden popped into SF in June for a summit with AI bigwigs in June, as part of a multi-day Bay Area tour. Biden is also expected to return to San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders's Summit (APEC). But NBC Bay Area reports that Biden is returning to the Bay Area Tuesday, and is scheduled to be in San Francisco on Wednesday. Watch the skies for unusual aircraft!
According to KPIX, there is a Tuesday night event called “A Reception with President Joe Biden” in Atherton, and that station reports it’s at the home of investor Mark Heising and his spouse Liz Simons. That event is sold out, and required a donation of anywhere between $5,000 to $100,000. KPIX also reports on a Wednesday fundraiser in SF at the home of Dem donor Gretchen Sisson, who’s married to Facebook co-founder Andrew McCollum.
Biden also reportedly doing something non-fundraising related at a Wednesday meeting of President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), though it’s unclear whether that is scheduled in San Francisco. Biden’s official schedule for Wednesday has not been released.
You can gripe that Biden is only here to raise money, but honestly, that’s probably what a sitting Democratic president should be doing some 13 months from Election Day. Trump’s doing fundraisers too (though largely at Mar-A-Lago). NPR reported last week that Biden won’t begin actively campaigning until early 2024, which that outlet notes is typical of “most presidents seeking reelection.”
And the SF-Silicon Valley region is a reliable ATM for presidential candidates. A Puck News correspondent reported last week that venture capitalist and big-time Recall Gavin Newsom donor Chamath Palihapitiya is hosting a Vivek Ramaswamy fundraiser at his Bay Area home Friday, co-hosted by prominent Recall Chesa Boudin donor David Sacks, who is apparently no longer supporting Ron DeSantis.
Image: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 13: US President Joe Biden attends a press conference after a trilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the AUKUS summit on March 13, 2023 in San Diego, California. President Biden hosts British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego for an AUKUS meeting to discuss the procurement of nuclear-powered submarines under a pact between the three nations. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
