Planned Laguna Beach fundraiser for Biden’s reelection will be rescheduled, pivot to Harris

A planned fundraiser in Laguna Beach this Friday for the reelection of President Joe Biden will be rescheduled as an event for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign now that the president has dropped out of the race, the organizer said Tuesday.

“They were hoping to [go] forward but decided to hold off a bit,” fundraiser organizer Carol Leslie Hamilton said. “That’s probably a good decision, but we’re moving along.”

Biden was expected to attend the event in Orange County before his positive diagnosis of COVID-19 and subsequent decision to drop out of the race. The planned fundraiser was “going to be a well-attended event” Hamilton said. But the enthusiasm for Harris’ campaign has been noticeable, she added.

“It’s been phenomenal support for the vice president,” Hamilton said. “She’s going to shatter that glass ceiling we’ve been staring at for so long.”

Hamilton said it was “sad” to see Biden drop out of the race.

“And yet I’m excited about someone’s who’s gong to continue” Biden’s policies, she said. “The good news is we have a great candidate who’s going to really continue in what he started and finish the job he wanted to do. There’s more to be done and we’re on a good trajectory.”

The Republican Party of Orange County released a statement critical of Harris shortly after Biden endorsed his vice president for the top spot on the Democratic ticket Sunday.

“The truth is there is no daylight between Biden and Harris,” the statement said. `”As Vice President, she is just as responsible for the failed administration and the policies that have crushed Americans as Joe is ... As Californians we know the damage Kamala Harris has done to our state and our nation: out-of-control inflation, rampant crime and a border crisis. She has failed up her entire career and has no place failing up to the highest office in the land.”