Names and faces
■ “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill dropped by the White House for a Friday visit with President Joe Biden and walked away with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a greater respect for the office. “I love the merch,” he said, taking off the glasses during a quick appearance at the White House daily news briefing following his visit with Biden. “I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” said Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker. He’s been to the White House before, but he’d never checked out the Oval Office, and that was quite something, he said. Biden showed off photographs and other Oval Office items, Hamill said. Hamill said Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill offered an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?” “He liked that,” said Hamill. Hamill and the White House were vague about his reason for visiting. But Hamill, a Democrat and Biden supporter, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign last week. “May The First Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he wrote May 1. On Friday, he posted, “May The Third Be Absurd That The Guy Who Tried To Steal A Fair Election Is Allowed To Run Again,” a reference to Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
■ Mick Jagger briefly waded into Louisiana politics, taking a verbal jab at the state’s conservative governor, as The Rolling Stones performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The band had finished “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” during Thursday evening’s set when Jagger began talking about inclusion, according to New Orleans news outlets. “We want to include him too,” Jagger said of Gov. Jeff Landry. “Even if he wants to take us back to the Stone Age.” Jagger didn’t mention specific policies. Landry is a Republican who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. He was the state attorney general before taking office as governor in January. Landry has supported conservative legislation and causes including a near total abortion ban, a prohibition on gender-affirming medical care for young transgender people and harsher sentences for crimes. Landry clapped back at the 80-yearold Jagger on social media. “You can’t always get what you want,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter. “The only person who might remember the Stone Age is Mick Jagger. Love you buddy, you’re always welcome in Louisiana!”