President Obama's announcement that he supports gay marriage garnered strong reaction from both sides of the fence. INSIDE EDITION reports on how the reaction is shaping up as Obama heads to Hollywood for George Clooney's fundraiser.
George Clooney is hosting President Obama for what's expected to be the "largest single presidential fundraiser in U.S. history" at his home in the Hollywood Hills Thursday night.
The house is impeccably decorated and enormous. It will be jammed with 150 A-list Obama supporters, including Barbra Streisand and Robert Downey Jr., paying $40,000 a plate. Clooney showed off the place for the first time on a recent CBS special.
Obama jetted to California on the heels of his historic announcement: "I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."
Famous gay Americans are reacting to the announcement.
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and financial guru Suze Orman spoke out on the Today show.
Rachel Maddow said, "I am an openly gay member of media, covering this, but also feeling it."
Suze Orman said, "Part of me is like, what took you so long President Obama? This is something that should have been done—in my opinion anyway, obviously I would think that—some time ago."
Ellen DeGeneres tweeted: "Thank you President @barackObama for your beautiful and brave words. I'm overwhelmed."
"Bravo, Mr. President, and thank you," said How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris.
Glee's Jane Lynch said, "Pretty darn happy today. Thanks Mr President, for supporting the dignity of my family and so many others!"
And Ricky Martin tweeted, "I applaud President @barackobama for affirming that ALL Americans should enjoy equal rights. Historic!"
The president has said that Modern Family is one of his favorite shows. And star Jesse Tyler Ferguson had this to say: "With @michelleobama's...permission I would like to marry @barackobama right now!"
We caught up with CBS This Morning's Gayle King, who told INSIDE EDITION, "I have a lot of gay friends, and I got so many emails from people who were ecstatic."
But the country is split on same-sex marriage. It's only legal in six states and Washington, D.C.
The impact on the presidential election was a hot topic on the airways.
On The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck said, "There are some, interestingly enough, gay Republicans that aren't happy about this."
In our INSIDE EDITION poll, we asked, how will President Obama's support of same-sex marriage affect his campaign? 53 percent of viewers said it will help him. 47 percent said it could be his downfall.
Leave it to the latenight comics to cut through the controversy.
Jay Leno said on The Tonight Show, "He changed his campaign slogan from 'Forward' to 'Fabulous!"
