Actor George Clooney called on Wednesday for Democratic leaders to unite behind a new presidential nominee, amid increasing pressure within the party for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race.
In a guest essay for The New York Times, Clooney, a significant Democratic fundraiser, urged party leaders to reconsider Biden’s candidacy following his recent debate performance. “It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote, referencing a recent star-studded event in Los Angeles. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
A campaign spokeswoman reiterated Biden’s previous statements that he intends to stay in the race, despite Democratic concerns since the debate. Biden has dismissed calls to drop out and downplayed polls showing him trailing Trump, although within the margins of error.
Democratic donors are divided over the path forward amid this internal discord. Clooney, describing himself as a friend of Biden’s, wrote that 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.”
“We are not going to win in November with this president,” he added. “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. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”
While some prominent Democrats continue to support Biden, their backing has become more tentative after closed-door meetings following their return to the Capitol this week.
In his essay, Clooney criticized Biden’s argument that his victory in the Democratic primaries reflects voter support. “It is disingenuous, at best, to argue that Democrats have already spoken with their vote and therefore the nomination is settled and done, when we just received new and upsetting information,” he wrote.
“Top Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside,” he concluded.