Even though both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders weren’t in New York over the past 48 hours – traveling or campaigning elsewhere instead – the high tensions in the Democratic race haven’t eased as Tuesday’s primary in the Empire State nears.

Clinton traveled to California for two days to attend high-dollar fundraisers hosted by actor George Clooney.

Sandwiched between the posh events, she campaigned in the Los Angeles area at Southwest College, a campus in a what was once a predominantly African American community. But her speech was interrupted three times by protesters carrying signs and chanting epithets.

Clinton – backed by nearly 500 supporters in the crowd – continued with her stump speech. But over the cacophony of protesters, she had a message for them that seemed to be ever-present on this West Coast swing: “We don’t need another diagnosis of the problem, we need solutions!” she said.

The campaign stop came as Clinton is locked in an increasingly bitter primary fight with Sanders that has raised such issues as gun control and Clinton’s ties to Wall Street to the fore.

Sanders supporters picketed outside of Clinton’s fundraiser in San Francisco that was headlined by Clooney on Friday night. Clooney and his wife, Amal, a human rights attorney, will host a second fundraiser in their Los Angeles home on Saturday night.

The events, which raise money for Clinton’s Victory Fund – a joint committee between the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state parties – come at a hefty price tag. Individuals can attend for $33,400 or chair the event by raising or contributing $353,400.

Sanders has made hay of such high-dollar events, contrasting them with his fundraising from small-dollar donors.

On Friday, the Sanders campaign said it planned to air a new ad – entitled “$27” – during Clinton’s California swing: The number refers to the average amount that contributors have given to the Sanders campaign.

Meanwhile, Clinton spokeswoman Christina Reynolds emphasized in a statement that Clinton’s fundraising at these events are intended to also benefit the Democratic Party, through the joint fundraising committee.

“Hillary Clinton has made it a priority to raise money for Democrats up and down the ballot and we’re grateful to everyone who supports the party,” Reynolds said. “We frequently hear how much money Senator Sanders is raising, maybe he can send a few of those $27 donations to the DNC and state parties across the country to help the party he hopes to lead.”

It seems, however, that Sanders isn’t the only person critical of just how much money is being funneled from the wealthy into the political system: George Clooney is too.

In an interview that will air on NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Clooney said Sanders and his supporters are right to protest the fundraiser that he headlined.

“Yes, I think it’s an obscene amount of money,” Clooney said. “I think that, you know, we had some protesters last night when we pulled up in San Francisco and they’re right to protest. They’re absolutely right. It is an obscene amount of money.

“The Sanders campaign when they talk about it is absolutely right. It’s ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics. I agree completely,” he added.

Sanders on Saturday was traveling back to New York after finishing visit to Rome, where the senator from Vermont spoke at a Vatican conference and met briefly with Pope Francis. Both candidates are expected to be in New York on Sunday to campaign ahead of the state’s April 19 primary.

In Los Angeles, Clinton challenged Sanders on gun control, an issue that is a key part of her argument against him in the New York primary and is likely to play a role in the California primary on June 7.

“No matter how often he’s asked by family members of those who have been murdered, he sticks to his talking points,” Clinton said, as she dismissed Sanders’s claim that his views on gun control stem from his home state of Vermont where there is virtually no gun control. “We all need to be concerned about the greed and recklessness on Wall Street, that’s why I have a plan to go after them.”

“But we also need to be concerned about the greed and recklessness of the gun lobby as well,” Clinton said.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Abby Phillip