Washington — President Biden on Saturday attended a shiva to mourn legendary television producer Norman Lear while on California fundraising swing.
Lear, known for “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons” and “One Day at a Time, died this week at age 101 of natural causes.
In a statement, Mr. Biden said Lear was “a transformational force in American culture, whose trailblazing shows redefined television with courage, conscience, and humor, opening our nation’s eyes and often our hearts.”
He added that Lear “never shied away from tough topics, taking on issues of racism, class, divorce, and abortion, capturing the grace and dignity in people’s lives. And during decades of political advocacy, he fought directly for free speech, a woman’s right to choose, the environment, voting rights, and more.”
The shiva, a weeklong Jewish mourning tradition, was at the home Lear shared with his wife, Lyn,
Mr. Biden and first lady Jill Biden were in Los Angeles this weekend for campaign events, where he warned donors that former President Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.
First lady Jill Biden said at one of the fundraisers that she is “so grateful that Joe is our president during these tumultuous times.”
“Joe isn’t just the right person for the job,” Jill Biden said. “He is the only person.”
The Biden-Harris campaign said last week ahead of Mr. Biden’s coast-to-coast fundraising tour that it expects to raise more than $15 million in five days through fundraisers in Boston, Washington and Los Angeles, and also through its ongoing small-dollar fundraising campaign.
The Bidens’ trip comes days after a federal indictment was unsealed in California charging the president’s son Hunter Biden with nine counts of tax crimes.
Bo Erickson contributed reporting.