Tom Steyer holds first presidential campaign appearance in Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The latest Democratic candidate to enter the presidential race, held his first Bay Area campaign appearance Wednesday night in San Francisco.

Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer defended his wealth several times to a small crowd at a fundraiser at Manny's in San Francisco's Mission district.

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"What we need in 2020 is an across the board win, a chance to rebuild the electorate," said Steyer.

Steyer says he's the candidate to beat Donald Trump.

Steyer has spent his own money on TV ads to impeach the president.

At a campaign rally in North Carolina, Donald Trump supporters chanted "send her back" as the president attacked Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar, one of several outspoken Democratic critics of the president.

"There's nothing lower in this world than going after someone based on race, sexual orientation," said Steyer.

Steyer says the US government is broken-- he's got two ways to fix it.

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"The two things I'm talking about, Retaking government from corporations, and addressing climate change on day one," Steyer added.

Steyer has vowed to spend $100 million of his own money on the campaign, but Politico writer Carla Marinucci says he needs donors to qualify for upcoming debates.

"He needs donors, it's hard for a billionaire to convince people to give to his campaign," said Marinicci.

Steyer says he's working on attracting those donors. He defended his lack of political experience, saying years of working in Finance and starting his nonprofit NextGen America was a good training ground for the White House.