Actor George Clooney is calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race in a guest essay Wednesday in the New York Times, mere weeks after raising millions for the Democratic candidate.
“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 wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” wrote Clooney.
“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. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign,” Clooney continued.
The actor joined a growing list of megadonors and Hollywood elites who’ve turned on the president after the debate, where his frail, often confused, halting performance alarmed supporters. Members of the Democrat Party, liberal media figures, and political allies have also pressured the president to drop out of the race and warned he is unable to beat former President Donald Trump.
“This is about age. Nothing more. But, also, nothing can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president,” wrote Clooney.
Democrats have more to lose than the White House
Dems have more to lose than the White House. Clooney argued that they risk losing races up and down the ballot with Biden 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. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”
The actor warned that it was far past time to put forward a new candidate and ribbed Democrats for putting their “heads in the sand” on the party’s dilemma.
“[T]he dam has broken. We can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November, or we can speak the truth,” wrote Clooney.
Clooney called for top Democrats like Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, and Senator Chuck Schumer, as well as candidates who are at risk of losing their own elections, to pressure the president to “voluntarily step aside.”
With Biden removed from the ticket, other Democratic leaders could come forward and make their case to Americans, he argued.
“Let’s hear from [Maryland Gov.] Wes Moore and [Vice President] Kamala Harris and [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer and [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom and [Kentucky Gov.] Andy Beshear and [Illinois Gov.] J.B. Pritzker and others,” wrote Clooney.
“Would it be messy? Yes. Democracy is messy. But would it enliven our party and wake up voters who, long before the June debate, had already checked out? It sure would,” he continued.
Despite increasing pressure to move aside, the president has insisted to media outlets and supporters that he will remain in the race and is the best candidate to beat his Republican rival.
Biden’s campaign pointed to the president’s repeated statements about staying in the race.
In May, Mr. Clooney called on the White House to complain about Biden’s rebuke of the International Criminal Court when it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. His wife, Amal Clooney, worked on the case.
