The president is getting flack for holding a private party at his house.
The Hill (“White House defends private Prince party“):
The White House on Monday defended a private concert over the weekend featuring Prince and Stevie Wonder, saying the Obamas paid for it themselves.
Around 500 people attended the event, which was not disclosed on the president’s public schedule. Press secretary Josh Earnest confirmed the first couple hosted a private party for their friends and said they “did it on their own dime.”Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, singer Ciara, and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those in attendance. The guest list reportedly also included powerful business figures such as Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein and American Express CEO Ken Chenault.
Given the size of the party and the influential guest list, Earnest was asked why the event was not made public. The spokesman said hosting a private event, while an “appropriate thing” to do, is “not part of the responsibilities of the president and first lady.”
“The president and the first lady are going to reserve the right to host private parties at the White House, and they did it on their own dime,” he said.
He said the White House would not release a guest list.
While the gathering was something of a collection of strange bedfollows, news of it wouldn’t strike me as even remotely unusual. Presidents have been hosting celebrities and corporate bigwigs at the White House for as long as I can remember—and actually longer. I vaguely remember Jimmy Carter having Willie Nelson over in the 1970s and have seen pictures of Elvis at the Nixon White House. I don’t offhand recall the venue of JFK’s parties with Marilyn Monroe but gather the guest list was considerably smaller.
The odd thing here is the insistence that the Obama’s paid for all of this out of pocket. That’s simply absurd.
To be sure, the Obamas are rather well off and can certainly afford lavish parties. But presidents host those all the time on the public dime. Entertaining rather goes with the job description of a head of state. If they deemed this purely a personal event with no public-facing value, perhaps they paid for the refreshments out of pocket. Surely, neither Prince nor Stevie Wonder were charging to perform; even as famous as they are, there’s a certain honor in playing the White House.
Regardless, the White House is public property. Were it for rent for events—and I’m given to understand that it hasn’t been since the Clinton administration—it would be prohibitively pricey. And the vast security and service retinue that attends the president surely weren’t given the night off nor paid for by the Obamas. Nor, I reiterate, should it have been. I’m just befuddled by the pretense.
