The rhetoric that the Biden campaign and White House have aggressively pushed about the president in recent weeks, including calling videos of him struggling a “cheap fake” and trying to dismiss concerns about his mental state, suffered a major blow Wednesday when a top Hollywood actor and former aide to former President Barack Obama spoke out.
Actor George Clooney on Wednesday called on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, citing criticism he received at a Hollywood fundraiser in late June when former President Barack Obama appeared to need to be escorted off stage.
“It’s shocking to say this, but the Joe Biden I was sitting with at a fundraiser three weeks ago was not the ‘big’ Joe Biden of 2010. It wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. It was the same guy we all witnessed at the debates.” Clooney, a longtime friend of Obama, wrote:.
This conclusion was supported by former President Obama’s speechwriter, Jon Favreau, who attended the Hollywood fundraiser.
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President Biden and actor George Clooney (AP | Getty)
“For those of us who were involved in fundraising, this wasn’t a surprise,” said Favreau, who was part of a group of staffers dubbed the “Obama Brothers” during his time in the White House.
“I was there. Clooney was absolutely right and everyone I spoke to at the fundraiser was thinking the same thing — except for the people who work for Joe Biden. At least they didn’t say that.”
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On December 8, 2023, President Biden will walk across the South Lawn of the White House and board Marine One. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Favreau’s candid comments came the day after he, along with two fellow advisers and members of the “Obama Brothers,” dedicated much of their time to the president. Latest ‘Pod Save America’ Episode They collectively attacked Biden following his poor performance in the first presidential debate and in subsequent interviews.
Shortly after a video circulated of Biden being escorted off stage by Obama at a June 18 fundraiser, Democrats began working with the media to dispel doubts about Biden’s age.
“Claim: Biden froze on stage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night and had to be removed by Obama.” The Associated Press writes:“Fact: Biden paused amid cheers and applause as he walked off stage with his predecessor following an interview moderated by late-night host Kimmel.”
White House press secretary Andrew Bates described the moment as “the president looked out over the applauding crowd for several seconds.”
Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said such negative portrayals were a distraction tactic by people “so scared of losing to Joe Biden that they’ll make up anything to distract from the fact that presidential candidate Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies, is guilty of sexual assault, committed financial fraud and is only looking out for himself.”
At a press conference the following Monday, responding to a question about videos that had been edited to make Biden look weak or confused, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called such footage “cheap fake videos made with bad intentions.” She added that the footage showed “everything we need to know about how desperate the Republicans are.”
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Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the White House’s daily briefing on July 9, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
A source who helped organize and attended the fundraiser told The Associated Press that there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the moment and that Obama just wanted to get “intimate” with Biden by walking offstage.
Lewis Kaye, a spokesman for Jimmy Kimmel, who was at the event, called the claims circulating online “nonsense.”
“Participants in the front row were yelling at him and President Biden was trying to hear them,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “And that was it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Biden campaign for comment but did not receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
