George Clooney Has Friends in High Places

George Clooney must be used to women swooning over him, and perhaps some men, but it’s still got to be flattering to have someone like the President of the United States talking publically about how great you are.

President Obama shared in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight that he thinks Clooney is a “wonderful guy.”

"The truth is we got to know each other because of a substantive issue," Obama said. "[Clooney] is a terrific advocate on behalf of the people of Darfur, and to the people of Sudan who've been brutalized for a long time. And so when I was a senator – this was well before I was president – that was an issue that I was working together on a bipartisan basis, and George, who had traveled there, done documentaries there, and was very well-informed, came to testify in Congress. And so we got to know each other, and he is a good man, and a good friend."

George has got to be glowing knowing that President Obama is not only impressed with his work outside of acting, but considers him a “friend.”

Obama joked (but probably not really) that his staff seems to get a bit starstruck whenever Clooney is at the White House working with Obama.

"I will say that the couple of times he's come to the White House, I notice that the staff suddenly is circling around my office. They've got memos they need to make sure I see right away."

You won’t find the first lady hovering around, though – not that she wouldn’t like to be.

"Michelle is always frustrated because a lot of the events that George has been involved in, for some reason, she has something else going on," Obama added, after his wife joked about it being a “conspiracy” that she is always gone when Clooney is visiting the White House.

Although the president is obviously a helpful friend to have in your corner, Clooney isn’t so bad himself. The 53-year-old actor has been an avid leader in raising funds for Obama’s re-election campaign, raising $15 million in just one event he hosted this past Spring. Clooney’s next fundraiser, later this month, will be held in Geneva, Switzerland. At $1,000 per ticket, it’s bound to be another big moneymaker.

Clooney has done a considerable amount of advocacy for the resolution in Darfur since 2006, ranging from making an educational documentary with his dad about the situation to being arrested this year outside of the Sudan Embassy for civil disobedience during a protest.