Clinton’s showbiz pals spend big as Tinseltown shuns Trump
washington — With a dozen days left until Election Day, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are refusing to commit to working with each other after the election, putting in question their abilities to heal the country’s wounds after a volatile presidential race.
“I just want to make that decision at a later date,” said Trump, when asked whether he would cooperate with a Clinton administration. “Hopefully I won’t have to make that decision.” He spoke in an interview broadcast Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Clinton, meanwhile, dodged a question about whether she would meet one-on-one with Trump after the election.
“I certainly intend to reach out to Republicans and independents, and the elected leadership of the Congress,” Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane on Wednesday.
Traditionally, presidential candidates hold a well-publicized meeting in the weeks after the election. While the moment of bipartisanship is often short-lived, the public appearance sends an important signal to the country that both parties are ready to accept the will of the voters and move forward.
In 2012, President Barack Obama and defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney shared an hour-long White House lunch of turkey chili and chicken salad. Four years earlier, Obama and Arizona Sen. John McCain pledged to work together on economic issues and national security after meeting in Chicago.
Privately, the 2016 candidates may be striking a more conciliatory tone. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the New York Archbishop, has said that in a warm private exchange at an otherwise testy charity dinner last week, Clinton had told Trump that “whatever happens, we need to work together afterward.”
In the final weeks of the campaign, both candidates have begun to focus more on their post-election plans. Trump made two appearances at his hotels this week, raising questions about whether he’s trying to shore up his corporate brand, amid signs that his campaign has hurt his family businesses. — los angeles — Glance at the list of Hillary Clinton’s biggest donors and you could be forgiven for thinking she was funding a Hollywood movie rather than a presidential campaign.
It is hardly surprising that the left-leaning entertainment industry is supporting a Democrat for the White House, but the gulf between candidates in donations from Tinseltown this election cycle is staggering. Actors, studio executives and other employees of the film, TV and music industries have donated $20.7 million to Clinton’s run for the presidency, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign funding.
Her Republican rival Donald Trump has meanwhile raised less than $350,000 from Hollywood.
“The Clintons have always been Hollywood darlings, going back to Bill’s term in office,” said Usman Shaikh, a Los Angeles-based entertainment attorney and a contemporary of Trump’s daughter Ivanka at the University of Pennsylvania.
“If you recall when it was Clinton and Obama for the primaries in 2008, Hollywood was supporting Clinton.” Within hours of the former first lady confirming last year she was running to become America’s first female commander-in-chief, dozens of celebrities clamored to give their stamp of approval.
By the fall of 2015, according to the Los Angeles Times, she had taken about $5 million of the $5.5 million that Hollywood figures had donated to the 2016 campaign.
Film titans Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg gave $1 million each, while “Star Wars” director J.J. Abrams stumped up $500,000.
Clinton supporter George Clooney hosted back-to-back dinners in San Francisco and Los Angeles in April which reportedly raised over $15 million, with donors paying as much as $350,000 a head.
Clinton attended 17 starry fundraisers in California over the summer, part of an eye-watering schedule that included nine events spread across the state over just three days in late August. That string of fundraisers included an August 22 cocktail reception for 500 people — including actor Samuel L. Jackson — hosted by NBA legend Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie. That was followed later the same day by a 90-minute event put on by billionaire media mogul Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl at their Beverly Hills home. One hundred guests paid at least $50,000 each. —