George Clooney Pens Op-Ed Calling for Biden to Step Aside

Kevin Dolak
·6 min read
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On Wednesday, The New York Times op-ed section published a blunt essay from George Clooney, in which the actor and director, one of Hollywood’s more engaged political players, forcefully argues for President Joe Biden to step aside in his campaign for reelection and allow a new candidate to take on Donald Trump in November.

Clooney, who has starred in and directed several politically minded films over his career, did not mince words in the essay, writing that the Biden he spent time with at a recent fundraiser that the Hollywood A-lister co-hosted three weeks ago is not the same man who won in 2020, but is the one 51 million Americans saw with their own eyes at his disastrous debate performance on June 27.

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“Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe,” Clooney wrote of the debate performance that has sent Democrats into a panic and that is now dividing the party. “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. The George Stephanopoulos interview only reinforced what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, who we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question.”

Clooney writes that while it may seem unfair to point out Biden’s perceived cognitive decline given his advanced age, “it has to be fair” because Democracy is at stake. He asserts that running Biden at the top of the ticket will not only lose the Democrats the presidency, it will cost them the House and Senate majority, which is within the grasp of both major parties in November; Clooney says that every single senator and congressional representative that he has spoken to privately agrees with this prediction.

Democrats tut-tut the GOP for its obsequious ceding of Ronald Regan and George H.W. Bush’s legacy to Trumpism over the past decade, he writes, while it’s the same party that is now whistling as they wait for the dam to break regarding Biden’s reelection bid. Clooney then shuts down the “scary stories” about the repercussions of Biden leaving the ticket, nay-saying the notion that election funds already raised would disappear or that a new nominee would be kept off the ballot in Ohio.

“We Democrats have a very exciting bench,” Clooney asserts. “We don’t anoint leaders or fall sway to a cult of personality; we vote for a president.”

The Oscar winner for the political thriller Syriana and nominee for Good Night, and Good Luck, which follows the conflict between journalist Edward R. Murrow and U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, floated the idea of several prominent Democrats stepping up to lead the ticket in November. Clooney suggests in the essay that the nominating process at the 2024 Democratic National Convention could “enliven our party and wake up voters.”

In closing, Clooney gives Biden credit for steering the nation away from the paths of the Trump administration and says he must repeat the feat.

“Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020,” he wrote. “We need him to do it again in 2024.”

On June 15, Clooney along with A-list headliners Julia Roberts and Jimmy Kimmel (who moderated a 40-minute chat with Biden and former President Barack Obama) had co-hosted what turned out to be a record-setting Democratic fundraising haul, as President Biden‘s reelection campaign netted more than $30 million from the one-night-only event that was attended by The Hollywood Reporter. Following a viral clip captured by THR‘s Chris Gardner at the event, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed speculation that Biden froze while standing on stage at the end of the event and had to be guided to an exit by Obama.

According to a news story on the op-ed that The New York Times published Wednesday, two sources said that the gala fundraiser was planned around Clooney’s schedule — not Biden’s — and the event’s timing demanded that in a short window of time, Biden fly from a Group of 7 gathering to California and back to Washington. Following the debate, Biden explained his dismal performance as the result of a cold and jet lag.

Roberts and Kimmel, along with Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg, have not yet commented on whether Biden should stay or step aside, despite several influential celebrity Democratic donors like Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, media mogul Barry Diller, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and millionaire Disney heiress Abigail Disney calling on the Democratic party to replace Biden on the ticket.

In response to Clooney’s op-ed later on Wednesday, Michael Douglas, a longtime Biden supporter who hosted a Hollywood fundraiser at his home for the president in April, said he too was “deeply, deeply concerned” about Biden’s reelection prospects after the debate, but he stopped short of withdrawing his support for Biden for 2024.

“I think it’s a valid point,” he said on The View when asked about Clooney’s essay. “I’m deeply, deeply concerned. Especially, it’s difficult because the Democrats have a big bench, they’ve got a lot of heavy hitters, a lot of talent. And I do worry because with the debate… it was relatively simple: First of all, they should have just told the president to stand up, put a little make up on for the debate and then where to look, and just don’t deal with all of your facts — just deal with [Trump’s] lies.”

Following up on her monologue in support of Biden on Monday’s show, The View‘s Whoopi Goldberg said that she continues to support th president — even when Douglas and her cohost Joy Behar said that Biden should have focused on Trump’s lies during the debate. To that notion, a flummoxed Goldberg said, “But then when he does that…You know, you can’t win in this game. I really feel bad for him. If he can’t do the job and we see he can’t do the job, then he’s gotta go, but until I can see that, I’m going to support him.”

Jackie Strause contributed to this story.

July 10, 10 a.m. Updated to include Michael Douglas’ The View quotes.

July 10, 11 a.m. Updated to include details about the planning of the Clooney-hosted fundraiser.

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