'Designated Survivor' star Kal Penn reacts to slur with Syrian fundraiser

Jayme Deerwester | USA TODAY

Kal Penn, who plays White House press secretary Seth Wright on ABC's Designated Survivor and who briefly worked in the Obama administration, has started a fundraising page in the name of a man who left a racist comment on one of his social-media accounts.

And his stoner character from the Harold and Kumar movies would likely approve of the project's name: "Kal Penn's Fundraiser: Donating to Syrian Refugees in the Name of the Dude Who Said I Don't Belong in America."

Penn, who was born in New Jersey to parents from Gujarat, a state in western India, announced the creation of his Crowdrise page on Twitter.

"We are better than the hateful people who tell us we don't belong in our own country, that America can't be a beacon of freedom and hope for refugees from around the world," he wrote on Crowdrise. "We will turn their bigotry, along with the President's, into love."

And cash. The campaign has already raised $1,543 for the International Rescue Committee.