George Clooney recently penned an op-ed for the New York Times expressing his feelings about Democratic candidate Joe Biden. President Biden’s performance at the first presidential debate and subsequent interview with George Stephanopoulos have inspired many of the party’s most ardent supporters to voice their opinions. Some have been in favor of Biden staying in the race, while others have called his ability to win into question. We’ll examine whether Clooney supported Biden’s nomination or if he called for him to step down.
Did George Clooney call on Biden to step down?
In his New York Times op-ed, George Clooney stated that he believes President Biden should step down and allow another democratic candidate to be chosen. He expressed that while he considers Joe Biden a friend, time has caught up with him.
Clooney co-hosted the Biden fundraiser in LA last month and said the president’s recent performance isn’t an isolated incident. He called upon Democratic party leaders to quit trying to tell people they didn’t see what they just saw and to recognize that the party can’t win with Biden as a candidate. Clooney went on to warn that the party won’t win the House and risks losing the Senate. He also revealed that despite what they’re saying in public, every Democratic congress member he’s spoken to expresses the same opinion privately.
The crux of Clooney’s argument is that the Democratic Party needs to throw caution to the wind and get a new candidate front and center as quickly as possible. There’s still time before the Democratic convention in August for the party to field new candidates, and as messy as it is, it might serve to rally the Democratic voting base, which is currently extremely apathetic at the thought of Biden as a candidate.
So far, the Democratic party’s official line has been that it stands behind Biden as its presidential candidate. Biden himself has indicated he plans to run. However, it’s plain to see that cracks have formed in Biden’s support base; many expect that he’ll end up stepping down in the next few weeks.