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Obama's Fundraiser At George Clooney's Home Nets Record $15 Million

A presidential SUV is seen outside of the house of actor George Clooney on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Mandel Ngan
/
AFP/Getty Images
A presidential SUV is seen outside of the house of actor George Clooney on Thursday in Los Angeles.

$15 million.

That's how much President Obama campaign will receive from a fund-raising event last night at George Clooney's home. The New York Times reports the A-list, Hollywood crowd paid $40,000 a person, helping to set "a record for a presidential election fund-raiser."

The Times adds:

"The dinner showcased Mr. Obama's popularity in the entertainment industry, whose financial backing has helped offset his lost support from Wall Street. And his stock on the West Coast was up further, just a day after Mr. Obama revealed his change of heart to support same-sex marriage, long a favored cause in Hollywood.

"Mr. Obama made only an indirect reference to his decision to endorse gay marriage, just as he had earlier in the day at two fund-raisers in Seattle. But, as at the prior appearances, his allusions were clear enough to elicit cheers and applause."

The Wall Street Journal reports that tables were set on Clooney's basketball court and guests dined underneath a canopy of white paper lanterns. The guests included Barbra Streisand, Robert Downey Jr., Salma Hayek and Jack Black.

As the Journal notes, the money comes with a potential political downside: It plays into the narrative that Obama is a celebrity, which is what Republicans have tried to cast him as.

The Los Angeles Times reports that even in a town used to celebrity, a presidential motorcade caused quite a stir.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.