Not even James Woods or Jon Voight …. sad
by digby
Trump had the nerve to come to LA last night and nobody famous came out to greet him. That had to hurt.
Late Friday afternoon, Donald Trump landed in Los Angeles for a re-election fundraiser. The event was organized by Trump Victory, a fundraising partnership between the Republican National Convention and Trump’s campaign, and aimed to raise an estimated $5 million for the party. It was the president’s third visit to the celebrity-hub city and, by all accounts, not a star-studded one.
“Celebrities? No celebrities,” Rabbi Marvin Hier said of the event. Hier is the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and gave the prayer at Trump’s inauguration. Multiple valets in royal blue jackets, who declined to give their names because of their job, echoed his sentiment.
“No celebrities,” said one valet, driving past in a golf cart.
“Yeah, no celebrities,” claimed a second.
The event was held in the 22,000-square-foot Beverly Hills home of health-care executive and GOP donor Lee Samson. The 15-bathroom “Italian-style limestone villa” runs about $10 million, according to Zillow, and was named Robb Report’s Ultimate Home of the Year in 2012. Tickets started at $15,000 for dinner, $50,000 for a photo op with Trump, and $150,000 to join his roundtable discussion, according to an invitation obtained by the City News Service.
Rabbi Marvin Hier and his wife Marlene outside Trump’s Beverly Hills fundraiser
Fundraisers had estimated that some 90 donors would be in attendance, but did not disclose the invite list. Security guards posted around the house could not estimate who or how many people attended, and the drivers of several tinted black cars around the neighborhood declined to identify their clients. One claimed he had signed a non-disclosure agreement in advance of the event. Even Rabbi Hier and his wife, Marlene, who spoke with The Daily Beast while leaving the fundraiser in a golf cart, could not agree on crowd size.
“Hundreds of people came,” Hier said. “Probably 400 people.”
“200,” Marlene corrected.
“No, 200 couples,” he said.
“Don’t quote him on that. It wasn’t 400.”
According to the Washington Post, 170 people attended the event at Samson’s home.
I’ll just point out that there are a LOT of very rich people in LA. It wasn’t the ridiculous cost of the meet and greet that kept them away.
Maybe Trump should stop threatening the state every chance he gets. Even rich Republican Californians might not care for that.
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