George Clooney stands by his call for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 election.

George Clooney Stands by His Call for Biden to Resign

George Clooney has expressed that he has no regrets about urging former President Joe Biden to step aside as the Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

At 64, Clooney believes Democrats still have a chance to secure victory but feels that putting former Vice President Kamala Harris in the race was a significant misstep.

After Biden’s poor performance in a debate against Trump in June 2024, Clooney published an op-ed in the New York Times urging Biden to consider stepping down for a more viable and younger candidate. When asked during an interview with Seth Doan on CBS’s “Sunday Morning” if he would express such views again, he replied without pause, “Yes.”

“We had a chance. As I mentioned in my op-ed, I wanted a primary,” he stated. “Let’s quickly battle test this and get it up and running.”

Clooney commented on Harris’s situation, suggesting she had to run against her own record, which he thinks is a challenging position. “Honestly, I think it was a mistake, but here we are,” he added. He reflected on concerns regarding potential losses for Democrats, stating, “Not doing that is like saying I’m not telling the truth.”

In July 2024, he mentioned feeling like he no longer recognized Biden and urged the party to resist allowing him to seek a second term. “It’s a matter of age. There’s nothing more to it than that,” he reflected, positing that Biden wouldn’t win in the upcoming election.

Clooney argued that Democrats stand to lose more than just the White House, warning, “This is not just my opinion. This is the opinion of every senator, congressman and governor that I have personally spoken to.”

After Biden’s debate performance, Clooney joined other Hollywood figures and political elites in pushing for Biden’s withdrawal, voicing concerns that he couldn’t defeat Trump.

Biden eventually stepped back from the race on July 21, 2024, with Harris subsequently becoming the Democratic candidate.

Following Clooney’s op-ed, Hunter Biden criticized the actor, claiming he stirred conflict against his father in an attack to remove him from the race. “I love George Clooney’s movies, but I don’t really care what he thinks about who should be the Democratic nominee,” Hunter remarked during a podcast.

Clooney later addressed these comments, indicating he found some of Hunter’s claims to be untrue but chose not to engage deeply. “I was able to spend a lot of time debunking a lot of the things he said because a lot of the things he said were outright lies,” he explained, pointing out that the involvement of former President Obama in those discussions wasn’t as direct as portrayed.

Ultimately, Clooney stated, “I don’t think it’s helpful for the Democratic Party. So I’m just going to pray for his recovery and hope he does well…” He has mentioned that writing the op-ed felt like a civic duty to him, as he observed dishonesty within the party. “You know, I’m a Democrat from Kentucky, so I get that,” he reflected, emphasizing the importance of free speech.