Actor and Democrat George Clooney says the President Joe Biden America saw at the debate is the “same man” he saw at a fundraiser in Los Angeles last month.
As Democrats are quick to claim that Biden, 81, just had a “bad night,” confidential sources are revealing that Biden is not the same man who ran for president in 2020.
Clooney co-hosted a swanky fundraiser with Biden in Los Angeles on June 16, just 11 days before the disastrous debate with Donald Trump, where the president had to be dragged off the stage by former President Barack Obama.
“It’s devastating to say, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the ‘big deal’ Joe Biden of 2010,” the lifelong Democrat wrote in An opinion piece from the New York Times“He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020.”
“It was the same guy we all saw in the debate,” Clooney admitted.
The op-ed was a forceful call from Clooney for Biden to step down as the party’s nominee in November and allow someone else to lead the ticket.
Lifelong Democrat George Clooney revealed what he thinks of President Joe Biden by demanding in a scathing op-ed that he step aside from the 2024 race after their disastrous debate. Above, George Clooney, President Biden, Julia Roberts and Barack Obama at a June 16 fundraiser that raised $28 million.
Clooney co-hosted a fundraiser for Biden in Los Angeles last month, where Obama had to gently tug on Biden’s arm and lead him off the stage after the president froze during applause.
The Hollywood megastar, who has hosted numerous fundraisers, said Biden cannot win the “battle against time” in a scathing op-ed for the New York Times on Wednesday morning.
The actor also condemned Democratic Party leaders for ignoring “all the warning signs” of Biden’s deteriorating physical and mental health and for trying to defend his disastrous performance against Donald Trump.
“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.
He added that Democratic voters “collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume every time we see the president, whom we respect, step off Air Force One or return to a microphone to answer an unscripted question.”
Clooney’s fundraiser in Los Angeles last month — co-hosted by Obama and actress Julia Roberts — helped raise $28 million for Biden’s re-election campaign.
The event, however, was overshadowed by questions about the president’s health after a video appeared to show Obama needing to grab Biden’s arm and guide him off the stage.
In the video, Biden and Obama are seen waving and smiling as they receive a standing ovation at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Biden claps and gives the audience a thumbs-up, but then stops moving as he stares at the crowd for several seconds.
Obama, who was still smiling and waving at the time, grabbed Biden by the wrist and gave it a gentle tug. That’s when the president seemed to react.
They proceed to walk off the stage together with Obama speaking into Biden’s ear while patting him on the back as they leave.
The White House has called the video fake. Officials also noted that the fundraiser took place the day after Biden returned from participating in the G7 summit in Italy.
Clooney joins dozens of Democrats and Biden allies who have called for the president to resign in the two weeks since his rambling and mumbling on CNN. The actor has hosted some of the largest fundraisers in party history, including one last month for Biden’s reelection bid.
Biden has insisted he is not going anywhere and will still beat Trump in November, but Clooney’s comments are a huge blow to his struggling campaign.
George Clooney visited the White House where he was honored by the president in 2022
“Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020. We need him to do it again in 2024,” he said. The actor wrote in the opinion article.
Clooney, who hosted a star-studded fundraiser for Biden in Los Angeles on June 16, said the person he saw there was the candidate the world saw at last week’s presidential debate.
“I love Joe Biden. As a senator, as vice president, and as president. I consider him a friend and I believe in him. I believe in his character. I believe in his morals. Over the last four years, he has won many of the battles he has faced,” Clooney wrote.
Biden and Clooney have a long-standing relationship, dating back to Biden’s time as chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Clooney was working on Darfur-related issues and connected with him.
The president honored Clooney for his support, hosting him at the White House for the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2022.
The actor has become a major force in the Democratic Party, raising millions for his candidates and is considered an influential voice in American politics.
His rejection of Biden could also hurt the Democratic Party’s pocketbook.
Deep-pocketed Hollywood donors were reportedly furious with campaign co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg after Biden’s debate performance.
Donors, like many Biden supporters, said they felt misled and betrayed about the president’s health.
Clooney argued that it was more important to beat Donald Trump in November than to keep Biden on the ticket.
“Our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We are so terrified at the prospect of a second Trump term that we have chosen to ignore all the warning signs,” he wrote.
Some prominent Democrats are already saying Clooney is right.
“I’m concerned,” Michael Douglas, a longtime Biden supporter, told ABC’s The View. “I think it’s a valid point,” he said of Clooney’s op-ed.
Biden has struggled to unite Democrats around his presidential bid as calls for him to drop out of the race grow.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who appear to question Biden’s decision to stay in the race.
“It’s up to the president to decide whether he’s going to run or not. We all encourage him to make that decision, because time is running out,” she said on Morning Joe on Wednesday.
Some Democratic lawmakers have expressed doubts about Biden’s ability to beat Trump.
Clooney said he has heard this concern from members of Congress he has spoken to, including concerns that the Democratic Party will lose the House and Senate.
“We will not win in November with this President. We will not win the House and we will lose the Senate. This is not just my opinion; it is the opinion of every Senator, member of Congress and Governor I have spoken to privately. Every single one of them, regardless of what they say publicly,” he wrote.
He argues that the candidate should be chosen at the Democratic National Convention, to be held in Chicago from August 19 to 22.
And the actor suggested a number of candidates who could replace Biden and win in November.
“Let’s hear from Wes Moore, Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, JB Pritzker and others,” he said, mentioning several governors and the vice president.
“Let’s agree that the candidates will not attack each other, but that in the short time we have, we will focus on what will get this country off the ground. Then we can go to the Democratic convention next month and figure it out,” he added.
Amal Clooney and George Clooney – Clooney was reportedly furious at the White House’s decision to question Amal’s work on the Gaza war.
Clooney met with then-President Barack Obama at the White House in 2010 to discuss Sudan.
George Clooney with Bill Clinton at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Biden has insisted he will stay in the race.
On Monday, he sent a letter to all Democratic lawmakers announcing his decision. He also reached out to party officials, donors and mayors in an attempt to bolster his support among the party faithful.
“I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the finish, and to beating Donald Trump,” Biden wrote to Democrats.
