Obama referred to Trump’s recent conviction, telling the audience that “Part of what has happened over the last several years is we have normalized behavior that used to be disqualifying. We have the spectacle of the nominee of one of the two major parties sitting in court and being convicted by a jury of his peers on 34 counts. His foundation is not allowed to operate because it was engaging in money business and not actually philanthropic work. You have his organization being prosecuted for not paying taxes. … There are certain standards and values that we should all abide by. Joe Biden has stood for those values and continues to do, and the other guy doesn’t.”

At times during the conversation, Biden tried out some of his own humor. With Trump and Biden neck and neck in the polls, Kimmel at one point asked, “Is this country suffering from Trump amnesia? Why do so many Americans seem to remember the Trump administration the same way we do a colonoscopy, like we know what happened. “

Biden responded, “All they got to do is remember what it was like. Remember the pandemic? He said, ‘Don’t worry. Just inject a little bleach in your body.”

“That worked for me, by the way,” Kimmel quipped. “Fair is fair.”

Biden then quipped, “By the way, it worked for him. It colored his hair.”

The event, which also featured celebrities such as George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand, was being touted as the largest Democratic fundraiser ever. The sum is higher than a similar celebrity-filled event the campaign held at Radio City Music Hall in New York in March, when $26 million was raised.

The Biden campaign has been marketing the star-studded event for weeks, with supporters being offered a chance to win a trip to attend and meet some of those on the bill. “It’s amazing how many people will show up to an event when you send 5,000 emails reminding them about it,” Kimmel quipped.

Jill Biden also spoke, introduced by Streisand, who said that the first lady is “the neighbor everyone wishes they have, not the type who suddenly flies an American flag upside down.”

“Trump has told told us again and again why he wants the White House — to give himself absolute power,” the first lady said.

Among the thousands attending the event were industry figures including Damon Lindelof, Marta Kauffman, CAA’s Bryan Lourd and Craig Gering, Kathy Griffin and Jim Gianopoulos, as well as politicos including Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, among a group of lawmakers participating in a photo line with Biden and Obama. Also at the theater: Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon.