The famous movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney added his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race on Wednesday, just weeks after headlining a fundraiser that brought in a record single-night haul for the president’s reelection campaign.
Clooney says in a New York Times opinion piece today that he loves Biden, but the party would lose the presidential race as well as any control in Congress with him as the nominee.
“This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private,” wrote Clooney. He has hosted several high-dollar Hollywood fundraisers, including one for Biden last month.
Clooney argued that the party should choose a new nominee at its convention next month, stating that while the process may be “messy,” it could “wake up” voters in the party’s favor. He mentioned Vice President Kamala Harris and Governors Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and Gavin Newsom of California as individuals from whom the country should now hear.
Focusing much of his piece on Biden’s age, Clooney noted differences he observed in the 81-year-old president during their recent Los Angeles event compared to years past.
“It’s devastating to say, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Last month, Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage for a fundraiser that raised a record $30 million-plus for Biden, aiming to energize potential supporters for a White House contest they believed could be one of the most consequential in U.S. history.
Clooney is not alone in his assessment of his recent interaction with Biden.
A person who had a close interaction with Biden described the president as vibrant and engaging at a fundraiser in March, but at the Los Angeles event months later, noticed a significant decrease in Biden’s presence.
The individual, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private interactions with the president, remembered being struck by how tired and “out of it” the president appeared during backstage conversations at the Los Angeles event. They considered that Biden’s lower energy off-stage may have been due to his travel from Italy, where he had attended an international summit.
Asked for comment on Clooney’s essay, Biden’s campaign pointed to the president’s letter to congressional Democrats earlier in the week vowing to stay in the race.
His team also disputed the actor’s representation of Biden’s demeanor during the Los Angeles fundraiser, with campaign officials who attended the event pointing out that the president stayed for more than three hours at the event, despite just having returned from Europe.
Luminaries from the entertainment world have increasingly lined up to help Biden’s campaign. Leading up to the fundraiser, Clooney’s name appeared on numerous fundraising missives from the campaign, which he called “the fight of our lives.”
When the Biden campaign learned of the Clooney-opinion editorial on Tuesday, they frantically tried to stop it in the last second. Biden’s most important ally in Hollywood, Jeffrey Katzenberg, called Clooney personally and tried to persuade him to take his New York Times Opinion piece back. But Clooney insisted he wants to run the piece.
Representatives for Clooney did not immediately return a message seeking comment on insight into his decision, when precisely he had made it, or how recently he had spoken with Biden.
Biden has refused to end his reelection bid after his weak debate performance against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on June 27.
