TL;DR
Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama come together with Lady Gaga and various other stars to raise money for hurricane relief charity, One America Appeal.
Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama showed Donald Trump what winning looks like this past Saturday with hurricane relief on everyone’s mind.
Every living ex-president gathered in College Station, Texas for a benefit concert intended to raise money for One America Appeal’s hurricane relief efforts that are currently underway. The concert featured a whole range of rock and country musicians — including a surprise appearance by Lady Gaga.
Now that’s what I call an audience😍 https://t.co/1JY6uCuEpz #OneAmericaAppeal performing in a few minutes! pic.twitter.com/lT6OqIVbD2
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) October 22, 2017
“When a disaster has struck we put all differences aside and come together because we need each other or we can’t survive,” Lady Gaga said to the crowd before her performance spanning 3 songs. She announced that she would be donating $1 million to hurricane relief causes.
The ex-presidents emphasized unity and setting political differences aside as each spoke to the crowd. “It’s important that those affected by these devastating storms know that even if the path to recovery feels like a road that goes on forever, we’re with them for the long haul,” Bush Sr. said.
“Our friends in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have just started to recover from what could be a calamitous disaster, but can be a new beginning if we just do what we should and prove that the heart of America — regardless of race, religion, or political party — is greater than our problems,” President Clinton said during his speech.
Nothing more beautiful than everyone putting their differences aside to help humanity in the face of catastrophe. #OneAmericaAppeal pic.twitter.com/2TPdPonvWv
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) October 22, 2017
As of Saturday night, the star-studded event had amassed an astonishing $31 million from more than 80,000 donors.
Even President Trump, who has criticized every one of these ex-presidents time and again, had words of praise for the five “some of America’s finest public servants” as well as praised the country’s ability to unite in a pre-recorded message.
“This wonderful effort for hurricane relief reminds us that we are one nation under God, unified by our values and devotion to each other,” Trump said.
According to a report, The 45th U.S. president spent over four hours on Saturday at his Sterling, Virginia golf club. It’s not clear if he played, but we have to believe four hours is enough time to get in a full 18 hole course. While sitting presidents often get a pass for not attending such public events as running the country is quite a bit of hard work — we’re all on the same page if you have a hard time buying such an excuse like that from President Trump.
That being said, Trump sitting on the sidelines for this one could be for the best. The president’s bad-mannered behavior and harsh talk have regularly created problems both inside and outside the Oval Office.
Now going back to the thing that truly mattered – the event for One America Appeal was a huge success — and, thanks to the support of five ex-presidents, a much needed major win for a united America.
