After wrapping up her multi-day statewide trip, Vice President Kamala Harris will attend a major fundraiser in San Francisco on Sunday to woo West Coast donors, some of whom withdrew their support for President Joe Biden following his poor performance. in the debate in June.
Harris will court Bay Area donors using her deep roots in the area and the political blessing of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represented San Francisco for nearly four decades in Congress and will join Harris at Sunday’s event, according to a Harris campaign official.
Tickets for the Harris Victory Fund event range from $3,300 to $50,000, and according to a campaign official, the event was sold out with nearly 700 RSVPs, raising more than $12 million for the campaign.
The achievement adds to the history $310 million the Harris-Walz campaign raised in July, which included $36 million raised in the 24 hours after Harris announced her selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
Walz will not attend Sunday’s fundraiser with Harris, according to a campaign official, who said that after a week of traveling the country together, the focus of this event will be on Harris and her connections to her home state of California.
After campaigning in Las Vegas with Harris on Saturday, Walz will fly to Minnesota, where he will remain the rest of the weekend, the Harris-Walz campaign told NBC News, adding that he will be on the East Coast next week.
Pelosi’s appearance on Sunday will be the latest step in a major shift by the president’s longtime ally and friend, who played a critical behind-the-scenes role in Democrats’ pressure campaign to gently nudge him to drop out of the 2024 race.
During a July 10 appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Biden’s favorite show, the former House speaker said time was “running out” for Biden to decide on his re-election plans — despite his insistence and from his campaign that he would remain in the race.
In a private phone call a week after her appearance on MSNBC, Pelosi warned Biden that his decision to stay in the race could cost Democrats the House and Senate, as well as the presidency, sources told NBC News.
Pelosi, who endorsed Harris about 24 hours after Biden dropped out of the race, explained more about her mindset in interviews this week tied to her new book, “The Art of Power.”
She told the New Yorker’s David Remnick on a podcast that the Biden campaign was not “facing up to the fact of what was happening” and that she had “never been more impressed with [Biden’s] political operation.”
“My concern was: This is not going to happen and we have to make a decision to make this happen. The president has to make the decision to make this happen,” she said.
In an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday, Pelosi said, “But it wasn’t just about the House. I thought it was very important, very important for us to make sure and that Donald Trump never became president after this debate.” We just have to win the elections.”
She also said she has not spoken to the president since he stepped aside.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
