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Arts & Entertainment

George Clooney Jokes About Being U.S. President

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The 46th President? (Photo by Jeff Spicer / Getty Images)

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George Clooney is currently at the Venice Film Festival promoting his upcoming crime thriller Suburbicon with Matt Damon. When asked about the potential for a George Clooney presidential run, the actor responded “Would I like to be the next president? Oh, that sounds like fun."

Variety reports the actor joked alongside his co-star Damon, who responded with "Can I just say that I’d like anybody to be the next president of the United States. Right away, please!"

Clooney, alongside his wife Amal Clooney, recently donated $1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center in the wake of the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, VA. He regularly comments on politics, recently criticizing President Trump at the César Awards in Paris, and even hosted a massive fundraiser for Obama's 2012 campaign at his old home in the Valley.

The film Clooney is promoting is Suburbicon, which Damon calls "the definition of white privilege," according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film follows the story of a suburban neighborhood hit with a wave of violence and the ensuing blame placed on the one African-American family in the neighborhood.

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