President Obama speaks at Los Angeles Trade-Tech College

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Pres. Obama speaks at LA Trade-Tech College
President Obama spoke at L.A. Trade-Technical College Thursday during his second day of his SoCal fundraising trip.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- President Barack Obama wrapped up his three-day, three-city West Coast trip in Los Angeles on Thursday, attending fundraisers and speaking at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

In the morning, the president attended a fundraiser at the home of Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino. After getting a quick bite to eat at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles' Fairfax District, he headed to Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, where hundreds of people had lined up for several hours to hear him speak.

During his speech, he highlighted his accomplishments improving the economy and chastised big businesses taking advantage of tax loopholes.

"Today our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs in the past 52 months. The unemployment rate is at its lowest point since Sept. 2008," Mr. Obama said.

The president headed back to Washington around 3 p.m.

Streets to avoid:

  • Sunset Boulevard and Mandeville Canyon Road from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
  • Sunset Boulevard and Barrington Avenue from 10 a.m. to noon
  • Beverly Boulevard and Doheny Drive from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Grand Avenue and Washington Boulevard from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Figueroa Street from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The president took heat for taking the trip amid the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, the plane crash investigation in Ukraine, and the jam in Congress on how to deal with the influx of immigrants from Central America.

Some Republicans said the president needs to concentrate his efforts elsewhere.

"I'm not going to give him advice about how to allocate his time, but he's certainly not spending the kind of time with the people he needs to pass legislation," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

A spokesperson for the president said that Mr. Obama takes his job with him no matter where he is.

This was the president's 19th trip to Southern California since he took office.

The president arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday to attend a $32,400-per-guest fundraiser at the home of Shonda Rhimes, creator and executive producer of the hit show, "Scandal," about a woman who heads a Washington public relations firm that manages scandals.

Before Mr. Obama arrived, posters popped up in a Hancock Park neighborhood and across bus benches featuring the president's face under a headline reading "SCANDALS." A line on the bottom says "DON'T BE AN" then has a hashtag and an expletive. It appears to be the work of a street artist making a statement about political scandals involving the White House.

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