Jamie Foxx Performs at $33,400 a Person Obama Fundraiser

President Barack Obama made a roughly 6 1/2-hour visit to the Southland today to attend a series of fund raisers for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic National Committee.

Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport at about 1 p.m.

He took part in a roundtable discussion at the home of “Star Trek” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” director J.J. Abrams, with tickets costing $33,400 per person, according to Variety.

Proceeds benefited the DSCC.

The president then arrived at the Pacific Palisades home of psychiatrist Dr. Robin Berman.

Before he got there, actor and musician Jamie Foxx performed for the guests.

Attendees told pool reporters Foxx sang Motown, including a James Brown tune, and that Kelly Rowland from Destiny’s Child performed with him on numbers including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

A tie-less Obama arrived after the concert and spoke at about 3:45 p.m.

Obama told the crowd that if more people had voted he would have had a Congress “that would have cooperated with me.”

The DNC said about 200 people contributed up to $33,400 a person to attend.

At about 5 p.m., Obama went to a dinner at the home of interior designer Michael Smith and his partner, former HBO executive James Costos, the U.S. ambassador to Spain.

After his Southland trip, Obama flew to the San Diego area for a vacation reported to be in upscale Rancho Santa Fe. He is slated to leave on Monday afternoon.

The most recent visit was Obama’s 23rd to Los Angeles and Orange counties as president.

Obama has attended fund raisers during 19 of his previous visits to Los Angeles and Orange counties as president, attending 34 fund raisers in Los Angeles County on those trips, occasionally attending multiple fund raisers during the same visit.

Through the seventh years of their administrations, Bill Clinton conducted 42 fund raisers in the region, George W. Bush nine and Ronald Reagan eight, according to research by Brendan J. Doherty, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, for his book “The Rise of the President’s Permanent Campaign.”

City News Service