George Clooney recently revealed his withdrawal of support for Joe Biden in an op-ed piece for the New York Times, expressing concerns about the president’s cognitive decline and urging Democrats to find a replacement candidate. Despite raising over $30 million for Biden’s campaign at a Hollywood fundraiser last month, Clooney has changed his stance on the president’s ability to win the election in November. In the op-ed piece, Clooney compared the Joe Biden he encountered at the recent fundraiser to the more confident and charismatic figure of past years, describing him as “not the same man we all witnessed at the debate.
The Associated Press had previously fact-checked a video from the Hollywood fundraiser showing an awkward moment between Biden and former President Barack Obama. While the AP claimed that the president simply paused on stage, Clooney emphasized that this was not an isolated incident but rather one of several public malfunctions exhibited by Biden. In response to these concerns, Clooney urged Congressional leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi to ask Joe Biden to “voluntarily step aside.
Clooney’s call for a replacement president is shared by other prominent figures in the entertainment industry, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, veteran studio boss Barry Diller, and Lost creator Damon Lindelof. Even Rob Reiner, one of Biden’s most loyal Hollywood supporters, has urged the president to step down. While these developments may create uncertainty among Democrats, Clooney remains hopeful that a new candidate could revitalize the party’s chances in November, stating, “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.