Bidens will host "gratitude dinner" honoring top allies as presidency winds down
The Biden administration is beginning to show signs it is winding down with a glitzy dinner in the works to thank and honor some of the president’s closest allies.
Longtime supporters of Joe Biden, donors, top officials and friends will gather Friday evening on the White House South Lawn for what two sources familiar with the event described to CNN as a “gratitude dinner” ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The invitations which appeared in a few hundred longtime top supporters’ inboxes in the last week look a lot like those for state dinners — the president and the first lady requesting the pleasure of their company.
They have been told to expect much of the trappings for a state dinner, including being asked to appear in black tie. A party tent was constructed on the lawn in recent days.
One person coming told CNN that this seemed like phase one of a long Biden goodbye over the next two months, as he wraps up not just his presidency, but over a half century in public life.
But the list was kept tight, with multiple top donors and supporters expressing surprise when told about the evening by CNN, saying it was the first that they had heard of the event.
The West Wing and East Wing did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the Friday evening affair.
One person who won’t be there: Vice President Kamala Harris, who left on Tuesday for a post-election vacation in Hawaii with her husband.
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