Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be in the Bay Area for a fundraiser Thursday.
His event will be hosted by investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya -- co-hosts of the popular podcast, “All-In.”
VIP tickets for the San Francisco event will start at $50,000, but those wishing to join the host committee will need to pay $300,000 each.
“This is an ATM, we know it. The world’s largest ATM for American politics is in California and everyone is making the most of it,” political analyst Larry Gerston said. “The good news for both Biden and Trump is they’re going to collect all this dough. And they’re going to toss it all into those swing states.”
Gerston said that right now, the latest polls show a close November 5 race.
“It’s tough to say which candidate would win right now. They’re pretty even,” he said. “Although, we must give Trump credit for being ahead in a number of those swing states that are always contested.”
Trump's recent felony conviction helped his election campaign rake in millions of dollars.
But as far as long-term impacts, “the question is, will this sink in. Will Democrats start talking about Donald Trump the felon? Will Trump continue to wage war on the judiciary saying that this was another witch hunt? How will each side take advantage of that event-- and that is what remains to be seen,” Gerston said.
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Trump’s opponents in San Francisco said they will greet him with a 33-foot-tall bird look alike.
The Trump Chicken towers three stories tall, equipped with a gold sideswept hairdo and a black and white prison uniform. Danelle Morton, one of the organizers of the demonstration, scrambled to collect a crew to steer the bird across San Francisco Bay during the fundraising event.
"I think the point of sailing the chicken has to be made, right? I mean, it'd be so much better if we're doing it while the man was actually standing there, but even if we don't, I feel like just getting it done is a victory," Morton said.
It's not the first time the bird has loomed over San Francisco. Morton and other organizers first erected the chicken in 2017 during the city's Trump Tax March; they inflated it again in 2021 after Biden was elected.
Since then, the Trump Chicken has been collecting dust in a storage facility. Morton said she never thought there would be an occasion to bring out the bird again.
Besides the chicken, Trump's upcoming visit has yet to spark murmurings of bigger demonstrations. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's fundraising trip to the Bay Area last month was met with dozens of pro-Palestine protesters.
