Rumors surrounding pronounced Democratic Hollywood Actor George Clooney’s possible transition from the silver screen into politics have been gaining traction, as a friend of the actor recently revealed he might be eyeing the California governorship; most likely in 2018.
This San Francisco Chronicle reports that a friend of the man who was once deemed Hollywood’s perpetual bachelor–but has seemingly broken that myth with his pending nuptials to British-Lebanese attorney Amal Alamuddin–told the Mirror that Clooney, 53, is in fact looking to run for governor of the Golden State. If he does, and if his run proves victorious, then he will be joining the likes of Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Talk of the potential political move for Clooney has been attributed in great part to his fiance Alamuddin. A source identified as a Clooney “pal” told the Mirror recently “now he has Amal by his side it will give him more credibility to run for office.” Amal Alammuddin is an international lawyer who resides in England and whose mother is an editor of the Arabic news site Alhayat.com and whose father is a retired professor of the American University of Beirut.
The Mirror also reported that President Obama himself has been courting Clooney to consider a run.
Clooney has been an avid supporter of President Obama. He campaigned for him in 2012 and in April of this year Clooney defended the POTUS at a private dinner in which he and billionaire Steve Wynn had a few unsavory exchanges in what was reportedly an inebriated “hissy fit” by Clooney. Wynn had criticized Obama, whom Clooney considers a friend.
The president and Clooney also seem to share similar views on foreign policy and humanitarian efforts, specifically with regard to strengthening relations between the US and Middle East. Obama chose to give his first nationally-televised interview as President of the United States of America to Arabic-language satellite TV network Al Arabiya.
A video from 2013 recently resurfaced over the internet of Clooney praising Iranian filmmakers during a red carpet interview in which he said “and your hope is that as Iran becomes more and more integrated into the United States — I mean, into the world…you would hope that banning them would seem archaic,” he said. And then added, “because it should be.”