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George Clooney breaks silence over his damning Biden op-ed at Venice Film Festival: ‘What should be remembered…’
George Clooney, who urged Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 White House race in a bombshell op-ed in July, lauded him for paving way for a new nominee.
George Clooney, who urged Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 White House race in a bombshell op-ed in July, lauded him for paying heeds to the calls and paving way for a new nominee.
The Hollywood legend arrived at the Venice Film Festival with his wife Amal Clooney to attend the premiere of his action comedy Wolfs.
In press conference, Clooney called Biden's move to drop out of the 2024 presidential contest “the most selfless thing that anybody has done since George Washington.”
“What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who — you know, it’s very hard to let go of power,” he added.
George Clooney hails Biden for saving democracy
His remarks follow his call for Biden to resign in an opinion piece published in the New York Times titled “I Love Joe Biden, But We Need a New Nominee.”
In the column, Clooney raised doubts about Biden's capacity to guide the Democratic Party to victory, highlighting the president's age and concerns regarding his physical and mental fitness. “The Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big f—ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020,” he wrote.
Referring to his op-ed, Clooney said at the press conference that Biden must “be applauded”, asserting that he “did the most selfless thing that anybody has done since George Washington.”
On July 21, Biden formally declared his resignation from the contest and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him.
He emphasised that one thing that would always be remembered is Biden's bravery to step aside in favor of a “better way forward,” not the complexities behind his choice.
“President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again,” he continued.
Clooney's op-ed had triggered crucial discussion since he highlighted that many Democratic leaders raised doubts over Biden's candidacy.
Clooney did not address Harris during the press conference.
“I'm just very proud of where we are in the state of the world, which many people are surprised by, and I think we're all very excited for the future,” the actor concluded.
