On Sunday, President Donald Trump held a fundraiser in Newport Beach, CA featuring a performance from Mike Love‘s touring incarnation of the Beach Boys. Ahead of the rally, original Beach Boys member and principal songwriter Brian Wilson, as well as founding member Al Jardine, disavowed the event and denied any involvement.
This latest public spat comes after Love’s iteration of the 1960s hitmakers—which hasn’t included Wilson or Jardine since their 50th reunion tour in 2012—performed at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, NV back in February. Wilson decried the event for its promotion of trophy hunting and in turn promoted a petition to end the practice of hunting exotic animals for sport. The event also hosted guest speaker Donald Trump Jr., an avid trophy hunter.
Tickets for Trump’s fundraiser in the bastion of California conservatism that is Orange county reportedly started at $2,800 and rose all the way to $150,000. Held at Lido Isle—the mansion belonging to 28-year-old tech guru Palmer Luckey off the coast of Newport Beach—the cash grab also hosted performances from Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (The Doobie Brothers) as well as former California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who played guitar. Meanwhile, Wilson and Jardine—who certainly have their fair share on tension with Love after he won the naming rights to the group started by the Wilson brothers (Love’s cousins) in Hawthorne, CA in 1961—made an exclusive statement to Variety distancing themselves from the fundraiser.
“We have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. Zero,” Wilson and Jardine told Variety through a spokesperson. “We didn’t even know about it and were very surprised to read about it in the Los Angeles Times.”
While many were quick to raise eyebrows at a Republican candidate visiting California only weeks away from the election, the Times was quick to point out the lucrative fundraising potential. The event’s host Palmer Luckey, who many believe to be the inspiration for Keenan Feldspar (played by Hayley Joel Osment) on HBO‘s Silicon Valley, sold his virtual reality company to Facebook for $3 billion and has since been one of the GOP’s top California donors. In turn, the event drew some of Orange County’s wealthiest Republicans for a late-game ATM trip by the president, though the actual number of attendees is unknown as the press—including the pool of reporters who travel with the president—were not allowed inside.
“The only reason a presidential candidate should be in California in late October is if the GPS breaks or if he is so desperate for money that he has no choice,” Dan Schnur, who teaches political communication at USC and UC Berkeley, told the Los Angeles Times. “At this stage in the campaign, every hour is precious. The fact that the candidate himself has to raise money in person means their fundraising situation is way beyond dire.”
[H/T Pitchfork]
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