Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney added his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race on Wednesday, just weeks after headlining a fundraiser that brought in for the president's reelection campaign.
Clooney said in a that he loves Biden, but the party would lose the presidential race as well as any control in Congress with him as the nominee.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I鈥檝e spoken with in private,鈥� wrote Clooney. He's hosted several high-dollar Hollywood fundraisers, including for Biden last month.
Clooney argued the party should pick a new nominee at its convention next month, saying the process would be 鈥渕essy鈥� but 鈥渨ake up鈥� voters in the party鈥檚 favor, mentioning Vice President Kamala Harris and Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Gavin Newsom of California among those from who the country should now hear.
Focusing much of his piece around Biden's age, Clooney noted differences he saw in the 81-year-old president during their recent Los Angeles event compared to years past.
鈥淚t鈥檚 devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe 鈥榖ig F-ing deal鈥� Biden of 2010," Clooney wrote. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.鈥�
Last month, Clooney, and were among those who took the stage for a fundraiser that took in a record $30 million-plus for Biden, in hopes of energizing would-be supporters for a White House contest they said may rank among the most consequential in U.S. history.
Clooney isn't alone in his characterization of his recent exchange with Biden.
A person who interacted closely with Biden described the president as vibrant and engaging at a fundraiser in March but, at the Los Angeles event months later, said they noticed a notable diminishment in Biden鈥檚 presence.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private interactions with the president, recalled being struck by how tired and 鈥渙ut of it鈥� the president seemed during backstage conversations at the Los Angeles event, adding that they gave Biden the benefit of the doubt for not being as voluble and showing lower energy off-stage because he arrived in Los Angeles after traveling from Italy where he had attended an international summit.
Asked for comment on Clooney鈥檚 essay, Biden鈥檚 campaign pointed to the president鈥檚 letter to congressional Democrats earlier in the week vowing to stay in the race.
His team also disputed the actor's representation of Biden鈥檚 demeanor during the Los Angeles fundraiser, with campaign officials who attended the event pointing out that the president stayed for more than three hours at the event, despite just having returned from Europe.
Luminaries from the entertainment world . Leading up to the fundraiser, Clooney's name appeared on numerous fundraising missives from the campaign, which he called 鈥渢he fight of our lives.鈥�
Representatives for Clooney did not immediately return a message seeking comment on insight into his decision, when precisely he had made it or how recently he had spoken with Biden.
Biden has refused to end his reelection bid after his weak debate performance against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on June 27.
___
Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina. She can be reached at
___
Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this story from Washington.
Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
