Stormy Daniels draws crowd of politically-engaged patriots to NorCal strip club

FILE - In this May 23, 2018 file photo Stormy Daniels, speaks during a ceremony for her receiving a City Proclamation and Key to the City in West Hollywood, Calif. FILE - In this May 23, 2018 file photo Stormy Daniels, speaks during a ceremony for her receiving a City Proclamation and Key to the City in West Hollywood, Calif. Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP Image 1 of / 34 Caption Close Stormy Daniels draws crowd of politically-engaged patriots to NorCal strip club 1 / 34 Back to Gallery

Adult film star Stormy Daniels and alleged former mistress of President Donald Trump brought her national "Make America Horny Again" tour to Northern California for a performance in front of a sold-out crowd at the Gold Club Centerfolds strip club in Rancho Cordova on Friday night.

"Tonight! I will be doing 2 shows at Gold Club Centerfolds in Rancho Cordova," Daniels, née Stephanie Clifford, wrote on Twitter Friday.

She then answered the question that's on everyone's mind while planning a trip to the strip club in the suburbs of Sacramento: "And yes, I have autographed books!"

Going to the strip club for a copy of "Full Disclosure": It's the new reading Playboy "for the articles."

According to the Sacramento Bee, the strip club located on the outskirts of Sacramento is usually sparsely populated on Friday nights (this despite boasting what Yelp reviewers describe as "so much energy and sexiness," women of "the type you could take home to mom," and "great grill cheese sandwiches").

But with the appearance of Daniels, "we're definitely seeing more interest from women, and older, more affluent people," owner Lars Gudenberg told the Bee. "There's a lot of political motivation and she has a name you recognize, whether it's polarizing one way or the other."

A large number of women came to see Daniels perform, though many said they weren't interested in her routine.

"I'm not here to watch her get naked or strip, I just wanted to show support for another woman," Samantha Paulson of El Dorado Hills told the Bee. "She has the guts to talk about her experiences and her views, and that's not easy right now in this political climate. I wanted to support her right to have a voice, and I didn't want it to be all creepy guys throwing ones at her."

One woman, Denessa Atiles, showed up to the event with a button that read, "Sluts vote," Fox 40 reported.

"It's a very cool button. It highlights the fact that women are often called sluts." she explained. "If you have sex you're called a slut. If you don't have sex you're called a slut. Whether or not you choose to have sex with somebody... sluts still vote."

It's unclear if Daniels succeeded in the tour's titular mission to "Make America Horny Again." Like Paulson and Atiles, others said they, too, were not there to watch Daniels strip. They were there because they love America.

Griffin McCarty of San Diego, who was on a business trip in the Sacramento area, told Fox 40 he went to the strip club because it was his duty as a patriotic American.

"The president... it's going around that he and Stormy were together and it's being a patriotic American to come out here," McCarty said.

An unidentified man from San Francisco told the Sacramento Bee he went to the event because he admires the way Stormy Daniels refuses to take it from Trump.

"She's getting under (Trump's) skin," he said. "She's standing up to him, and more women are willing to stand up too and not be shoved around anymore. If it takes a porn star to stand up to Trump, I'll take it."

Meanwhile, 39-year-old Mindy Tang told the Bee she went to see Stormy Daniels "because of her place in history."

"This isn't a regular thing. I'm here because of the Trump drama,"she said. "I like it. And it's not over."

Daniels thrust herself into the national spotlight in January when the Wall Street Journal reported the Trump campaign paid her $130,000 in hush money a month before the 2016 election to stop her from discussing an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006.

Legal scholars believe the payment may have broken campaign finance laws, and Daniels alleges that Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen intimidated and coerced her into silence.

Daniels performs again Saturday at 9 p.m. and midnight.

Eric Ting and Filipa Ioannou are SFGATE staff writers. Emails: eting@sfchronicle.com and fioannou@sfchronicle.com

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