Though George Clooney describes himself as "a lifelong Democrat" and someone who loves President Joe Biden, he believes it's time for Biden to leave the presidential race, he revealed in an essay for The New York Times. In the opinion piece, Clooney wrote that Democrats "are not going to win in November with this president," and pointed out that he's not the only person who feels this way.
"This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor who I’ve spoken with in private," he wrote. "Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly."
As he pointed out, he has a history of believing in and supporting Biden: "As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals," he wrote.
Clooney even supported Biden's re-election campaign by cohosting a fundraiser on June 15. Now, weeks later, he suggested that the party "could go into the Democratic convention next month" and select a new nominee even though it would be "messy."
He doesn't see this as a problem because "democracy is messy."
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The fundraiser Clooney co-hosted to support Biden's re-election campaign raised $28 million, reported CNN.
So why is he suddenly calling for a new nominee? He made it clear that "this is about age. Nothing more."
"It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010," he wrote. "He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
Though Clooney acknowledged that Biden could've been a bit under the weather during the debate, he also said that some Democrats are choosing to ignore obvious warning signs related to Biden's age and his ability to win the election.
"Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw," Clooney wrote.
After the op-ed was published, former President Donald Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to criticize Clooney.
"So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act,” Trump wrote on the platform.
“He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are. What does Clooney know about anything?” he continued in the post, later adding that "Clooney should get out of politics and go back to television."
