The lure of the First Lady: Celebrities flock to lavish $5,000-a-head Obama election fundraiser hosted by Michelle (and she even manages a spectacular outfit change)
Lydia Warren
The Daily Mail [UK]
20 March 2012
…The Obama re-election campaign rolled out the First Lady for a series of high-profile events on Monday, including a star-studded fundraising dinner, for which celebrities each paid $5,000.
Mrs Obama co-hosted the event in New York City with actor Robert De Niro, who has thrown his weight behind the Obama campaign, even claiming that it was ‘too soon’ for a white First Lady.
Speaking at a dinner in the Greenwich Hotel, which he owns, De Niro said: ‘Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?’
A guest at the event, which was held in the hotel’s Locanda Verde restaurant, yelled, ‘No!’, to which De Niro added: ‘Too soon, right?’
With some attendees paying $25,000 to mingle with Mrs Obama, she made sure she dressed the part, changing from a simple green trouser suit to a glamorous black and silver dress for the event...
…Obama’s opponents were not particularly happy with Michelle’s fundraising dinner in New York, blasting De Niro for saying it was ‘too soon’ for a white First Lady.
‘What De Niro said last night was inexcusable and the president should apologise for him,’ Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich told supporters in Shreveport, Louisiana.
‘I do want to say one thing, both on behalf of my wife and on behalf of Karen Santorum and on behalf of Ann Romney, I think that Robert De Niro’s wrong.
‘I think the country is ready for a new first lady and he doesn’t have to describe it in racial terms.’…
The complete article is at The Daily Mail.
H/T The Right Scoop who also has this: CNN reports that Newt Gingrich found the comments by De Niro inexcusable and demands an apology from Obama
…“I do want to say one thing, both on behalf of my wife and on behalf of Karen Santorum and on behalf of Ann Romney, I think that Robert De Niro’s wrong,” Gingrich said. “I think the country is ready for a new first lady and he doesn’t have to describe it in racial terms.”
Gingrich immediately clarified he thought Michelle Obama, along with the wives of his fellow GOP presidential candidates, were all “fine ladies.”
“But this is not about the first lady…”
Read the whole thing.
CAJ note: Who thinks the media is going to demand a retraction or an apology? Who thinks this would get a pass if it were said at a Republican fundraiser populated by the so-called 1%?
Yeah. We don’t think so, either.
Update: White House Apologizes For DeNiro’s Racist Remarks at First Lady Fundraiser
