George Clooney shares “devastating” feedback on Biden
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George Clooney at a 2023 event in Beverly Hills, Calif. Photo: David Livingston/WireImage
Longtime Democratic fundraiser George Clooney wrote in a New York Times op-ed published on Wednesday that President Biden should step aside as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Why it matters: Clooney — who headlined a record-breaking Biden fundraiser in June — is the latest Hollywood heavyweight to turn away from the president after his shaky debate performance.
Driving the news: "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," Clooney wrote.
- "He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
- The Biden campaign has blamed his lackluster debate performance in part on a cold, but the poor showing ignited calls from some Democrats for the president to step aside as the presumptive nominee.
- Biden has insisted that he is staying in the race, writing in a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday that it's time to "end" the pressure on him to withdraw.
State of play: Biden urged key donors to stay on his side during a call earlier this week.
- Other Hollywood donors, including Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, have said that Biden should step aside as the nominee.
- Meanwhile, IAC chairman Barry Diller said he wouldn't donate to Biden anymore.
Details: "I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. ... In the last four years, he's won many of the battles he's faced," Clooney wrote.
- "But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can."
- "This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president," he wrote.
What they're saying: Reporters gathered for Biden's meeting with new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Oval Office asked the president for a response to Clooney's comments, per a pool report.
- Biden turned toward the journalists and said "AFL-CIO. Go, go go," pumping his fists in reference to the president winning the endorsement on Wednesday of the largest federation of unions in the U.S. that's affiliated with an actors union.
Go deeper: Biden's plea to big donors: I'm your guy
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from President Biden and details of his union endorsement.
