George Clooney commented for the first time Sunday on his op-ed that called on Joe Biden to end his presidential campaign at the Venice International Film Festival, where the actor also praised the “selfless” president.
On July 10, Clooney became one of the most high-profile celebrities and Democrats to call on Biden to end his campaign when his op-ed published in the New York Times. “We are not going to win in November with this president,” the actor wrote at the time. “On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. 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.”
Clooney — who just three weeks earlier had hosted a Biden fundraiser, an event that left many attendees with the impression that Biden was in decline, as Rolling Stone reported — added in his op-ed, “This is about age. Nothing more.”
Eleven days later, on July 21, Biden dropped out of the presidential race and backed Vice President Kamala Harris, who Clooney subsequently also endorsed.
While some credited Clooney’s very public request for Biden to step away as a turning point, the actor, in Venice for the premiere of his upcoming film Wolfs with Brad Pitt, instead credited the current president with the decision.
“The person who should be applauded is the president, who has done the most selfless thing a president has done since George Washington,” Clooney said of Biden (via Variety). “What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who, it’s very hard to let go of power — we know that, we’ve seen it all over the world — and for someone to say I think there’s a better path forward, all the credit goes to him. And that’s really the truth… I’m just very proud of where we are in the state of the world right now.”
Following the publication of Clooney’s op-ed, it was later revealed that actor notified Barack Obama that he was penning the New York Times piece, and that the former president didn’t attempt to stop Clooney in the aftermath of Biden’s disastrous debate with Trump.
