President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have not started to fundraise for the presidential center that will be built in his honor after he leaves office, the White House said Monday.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest issued the assurance one day after the Obamas reviewed design proposals for the Obama Presidential Center, to be located in Chicago.
The foundation organizing the center, Obama’s version of a presidential library, selected seven architectural firms, including one from Chicago, to compete for the commission.
The first couple met with foundation staff to review the design proposals away from the White House campus on Sunday for logistical convenience, Earnest said. But he assured reporters that the Obamas didn’t decide to go off campus for the meeting in order to fundraise for the center.
“No, he was not [fundraising]. He has not,” Earnest said. “The president has made clear that he won’t be doing any fundraising for that until he leaves office.”
In late February, Obama dined with Morgan freeman and Tom Hanks at the local D.C. eatery BLT to discuss new details of the center.
The White House that night wouldn’t tell reporters what he was discussing with Freeman and Hanks, but afterward, Freeman told “Larry King Now” on Ora.tv that they were gathered to help him design the Obama center.
“We’re not going to call it a library,” Freeman said. “It’s going to be called the Obama center. … [Obama’s] anxious to make it so that when people visit, they come away with maybe a little incentive to take part in the process more.”
He also told King he’s a “big fan” of Obama’s and would help him on whatever he needs.
“I’m a big fan — ever since I read his book, The Audacity of Hope, he’s had me at his hip pocket. Whatever he needs, if I could provide it, he’s got it. He knows it.”
