Sunday, December 4, 2022

Wonderful afternoon at the White House and evening at the Kennedy Center. Actor George Clooney, singer-songwriter Amy Grant, singer Gladys Knight, composer Tania León and rock group U2 were celebrated as the Kenney Center Awards. I was the guest of secretary Becerra at a White House reception with the President that occurred at 3:30 PM before we all motorcaded to the Kennedy Center for the ceremonies of the awards. It was a star-studded evening and I had pleasant conversations with people some of whom I had met before such as Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Matt Damon, Mike Ferrone, among many others. It was a spectacular event mixing entertainment with honoring the honorees. The situation was somewhat unusual as I was completely swamped with people yelling my name and applauding it as I left the vehicle in front of the Kennedy Center and walked that long red carpet walk to the theater. There must have been hundreds of people lined up behind a rope down area and I was amazed how this recognition of me has reached such a height. I am certainly not getting a big head about it but it is rather weird and a little bit unnerving. Joked with Hunter Biden as we shook and hands and hugged. He said if someone snapped a photo and put it on line, the internet “would explode” given we are both being attacked by the far right GOP