President Joe Biden teased actor George Clooney at the White House on Sunday before the Kennedy Center Honors. (Watch the video below.)
Biden first praised all the honorees as “an incredible group of people.”
“And we humans see character. We see Amal Clooney’s husband,” the president said.
The tease drew laughs, even from the actor himself.
Clooney’s wife Amal is a prominent and accomplished human rights lawyer.
The imagination was a “version of one of Biden’s nastiest gags,” noted Mediaite.
Biden reached out and praised the two-time Academy Award winner for his activism on behalf of the families and refugees of 9/11 victims and his support for survivors of the 2018 attack in Parkland, Florida, and their work for gun reform.
“That’s character,” Biden said. “He’s George Clooney.”
Other honorees included singer Amy Grant, singer Gladys Knight, songwriter Tania Leon and rock band U2.
The Kennedy Center ceremony was highlighted by a routine by Sacha Baron Cohen mocking former President Donald Trump and rapper-turned-singer Hitler Ye (formerly known as Kanye West). There was also a public appearance by Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was seriously injured in October by a hammer-wielding home invader.
