Donald Trump is touching down in the city of angels on Friday to attend a Beverly Hills campaign reception as part of a three-day fundraising swing through the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Orange County.
This is his first fundraising tour after being convicted of 34 felonies in New York, a verdict that has riled up Republicans and led to a historic surge in campaign contributions. Now he hopes to capitalize on this momentum to rake in big dollars at Friday’s fundraiser as well as at a Saturday event in Newport Beach.
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His motorcade will be greeted in Beverly Hills by a street side rally of supporters waving Trump flags and cheering into megaphones, according to plans from the Republican Party of Los Angeles County (LAGOP) and College Republicans of America.
“Trump’s got a lot of supporters out here and we’re expecting massive numbers at the rallies,” said Will Donohue, president of the College Republicans of America.
“The grassroots has been seriously energized by the outcome of the verdict a few days ago and I think the general consensus of our grassroots here in California is the same nationally: they don’t believe this was a fair trial,” he added.
Donohue said Beverly Hills is a natural place for Trump to visit because many of its residents are fans of his tax cuts and recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The city is also home to two of Los Angeles’ rare red voting precincts where a majority of voters supported Trump in the 2020 election.
While local Trump lovers can be expected to be loud and proud at Friday’s rally, regional Republican representatives have been much more muted in their response to his SoCal stop.
Neither Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, nor Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Seal Beach, responded to the Daily News’ request for comment about Trump’s visit or recent court verdict. Both congress members are up for election in battleground districts that could play a key role in determining which party controls the House come January.
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Steel has not spoken publicly about the verdict, while Garcia initially declined multiple news outlets’ requests for comment but gave one to a reporter in D.C. on Monday. When asked whether he is concerned about having a convicted felon at the top of the ticket he said, “No. I think the American people saw what happened in New York, they saw what were typically misdemeanors being elevated to 34 felonies.”
Both candidates’ responses to the verdict have drawn harsh criticism from Democratic leaders.
“Ultimately, Republicans like Mike Garcia and Michelle Steel are stuck between a rock and a far-right place,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Dan Gottleib. “They made their bed with Trump, and now they’ll have to justify to California voters how comfortable they are undermining law and order alongside the 34-time convicted elephant in the room. Steel’s silence and Garcia’s embrace are incredibly telling.”
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Regional Republicans, on the other hand, have been more understanding of their reticence to speak out.
“A number of Republicans in swing districts in California win because of people who split the ticket, so they will vote for Biden and then for them,” said Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the California Republican Party. “Thus they all need to have their own local strategies on how to keep the focus on the issues that matter to these swing voters.”
This sentiment was echoed by Donohue, who said he recognizes that both candidates have reason to be concerned about political retribution from their commentary on Trump.
“As far as actual input on the Trump trial, I think a lot of them need to do what they need to do to win reelection,” he said. “There’s a lot of consultants that have ideas about what’s best for poll numbers and how they’re going to perform in their district. I think it’s imperative that we keep the house.”
While SoCal residents shouldn’t expect to see Garcia or Steel campaigning for Trump this weekend, Garcia has endorsed Trump for reelection and Steel signed on as a delegate for Trump in the presidential primary.
Residents can, however, expect to see more of Trump in the coming months as he seeks to collect California cash to spend in swing states.
“California is one of a handful of key economic engines that drive a GOP presidential campaign,” said Tim Clark, who headed Trump’s 2016 campaign in the West. “Southern California and the Bay Area are particularly strong in fundraising for the Republican nominee, and with many tech CEOs coming out strongly in favor of funding President Trump’s campaign, it’s clear that the cancel-culture dam has broken.”
Biden is also expected to make more fundraising trips out West, the soonest of which comes next weekend when he will headline a star-studded fundraiser at the Peacock Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
