Actor George Clooney, a major fundraiser for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, said that it’s “ridiculous” and “obscene” how much money goes into presidential campaigns.
{mosads}In an excerpt of an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” taped for Sunday, Clooney was asked if he thought the price of admission to attend a fundraiser the actor is hosting is an “obscene amount of money.”
“Yes, I think it’s an obscene amount of money,” Clooney responded. “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’s 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.”
The actor and his wife, Amal, hosted a fundraiser on Friday night for the former secretary of State, charging couples $353,400 to sit at a table with Clinton and the Clooneys. They are throwing another high-dollar fundraising event Saturday night.
In March, Clinton’s opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), used the word “obscene” to describe the price of admission for Clooney’s fundraiser.
“It is obscene that Secretary Clinton keeps going to big-money people to fund her campaign,” the Vermont senator said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I have a lot of respect for George Clooney,” he added. “He’s a great actor. I like him. But this is the point. This is the problem with American politics, is that big money is dominating our political system, and we are trying to move as far away from that as we can.”