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I finally got around to Deborah Solomon's Q-and-A with Ron Burkle in Sunday's New York Times Magazine. He talks about Hillary, briefly glances off David Geffen and the L.A. Times, and stands for a portrait by Andrew Macpherson that ran big in the print magazine. Excerpts:
Q: As a billionaire financier who claims to shun publicity, why are you holding a Hillary Clinton fund-raising dinner for 1,000 guests on March 24, at your home in Beverly Hills?
A: They were doing a fund-raiser in L.A., and somebody from her campaign said, “Are we going to have it at Green Acres?” And I said sure.
Q: You’re one of Bill Clinton’s closest friends — is there anything you can tell us about Hillary that we don’t know?
A: I think to the extent that people miss who she is, she’s actually a very nice, warm, thoughtful, caring person, and I don’t think that comes across generally.
Q: Were you surprised when your neighbor David Geffen publicly bad-mouthed the Clintons at the time of his own fund-raiser for Barack Obama, claiming they tell lies without compunction?
A: was surprised by it, and in many ways taken aback by it. But I have known David for a long time. David is very aggressive in his comments and very aggressive in his thoughts on everything.
Q: You’re competing against him to buy The L.A. Times.
A: David did something different. We bid for the Tribune Company, and David bid for The L.A. Times. The Tribune Company has a lot of media, not just a newspaper.
[snip]
Q: Do you like to shop in supermarkets?
I live by myself, so I don’t buy a lot.