It’s been two weeks since the first presidential debate, where President Biden looked and sounded old and out of sorts. I absolutely believe he had a bad night. Donald Trump had a bad night too, but that was overshadowed by the past two weeks of hysterical meltdowns by the media and by some (but not all) Democrats and political commentators. From a strategic perspective, President Biden’s reelection campaign should have held emergency meetings, sent out talking points and made sure that high profile surrogates were all visible and acting in lockstep. I think the Biden campaign did some of that, but it wasn’t enough to stop what has become a two-week tornado of bullsh-t.
What has really bothered me throughout this ordeal is that it all boils down to two fundamental things: “we’re worried that Biden is too old/he might die” and “we don’t want Kamala Harris to be president.” Those two “concerns” are connected, because from where I sit, concerns about Biden’s age are already baked into his support. People are voting for the Biden/Harris ticket knowing that President Biden is old as hell, but that Kamala Harris is younger and capable if she needs to take over. In all of these conversations about “Joe Biden must step aside because he’s old,” why are all of these people acting like Vice President Harris doesn’t exist, or that everyone agrees she should be passed over, or that what they’re suggesting isn’t some logistical nightmare which would see Donald Trump crowning himself emperor of the Confederacy of Trumplandia? I bring this up because George Clooney has some thoughts, and he wrote down those thoughts in a NYT op-ed:
I’m a lifelong Democrat; I make no apologies for that. I’m proud of what my party represents and what it stands for. As part of my participation in the democratic process and in support of my chosen candidate, I have led some of the biggest fund-raisers in my party’s history…. Last month I co-hosted the single largest fund-raiser supporting any Democratic candidate ever, for President Biden’s re-election. I say all of this only to express how much I believe in this process and how profound I think this moment is.
I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced. But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but 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 was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.
Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our 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. The George Stephanopoulos interview only reinforced what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, whom we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question.
Is it fair to point these things out? It has to be. This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president. 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 who I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.
…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. We all think Republicans should abandon their nominee now that he’s been convicted of 34 felonies. That’s new and upsetting information as well. 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.
All of the scary stories that we’re being told about what would happen next are simply not true. In all likelihood, the money in the Biden-Harris coffers could go to help elect the presidential ticket and other Democrats. The new nominee wouldn’t be left off ballots in Ohio. We Democrats have a very exciting bench. We don’t anoint leaders or fall sway to a cult of personality; we vote for a president. We can easily foresee a group of several strong Democrats stepping forward to stand and tell us why they’re best qualified to lead this country and take on some of the deeply concerning trends we’re seeing from the revenge tour that Donald Trump calls a presidential campaign.
Let’s hear from Wes Moore and Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear and J.B. Pritzker and others. Let’s agree that the candidates not attack one another but, in the short time we have, focus on what will make this country soar. Then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out.
Would it be messy? Yes. Democracy is messy. But would it enliven our party and wake up voters who, long before the June debate, had already checked out? It sure would. The short ramp to Election Day would be a benefit for us, not a danger. It would give us the chance to showcase the future without so much opposition research and negative campaigning that comes with these ridiculously long and expensive election seasons. This can be an exciting time for democracy, as we’ve just seen with the 200 or so French candidates who stepped aside and put their personal ambitions on hold to save their democracy from the far right.
Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020. We need him to do it again in 2024.
George Clooney can f–k all the way off. Refer to Vice President Harris by her title, George. She earned it. 81.2 million Americans voted for the Biden/Harris ticket in 2020, and millions of Democrats have already cast their ballots in the 2024 primaries. President Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee and the sitting president and this coordinated Democratic bedwetting is unseemly. Especially since Trump has basically been sitting in his soiled diaper in Mar-a-Lago since the debate as every Republican supplicates themselves to their orange fascist god. Be for real.
The Biden camp clapped back:
Biden is fighting back on Clooney.
From a source familiar with event planning: “The President stayed for over 3 hours, while Clooney took a photo quickly and left.”
— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) July 10, 2024
I thought this was a good summary:
Let me be real clear: this same,
High-level coordination to push Biden out will then target Kamala Harris. What the Dems are doing now is dumb. They are spending more time on internal drama as opposed to focusing on Donald Trump. This is political malpractice.— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) July 10, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- London, UK 03rd Dec 2023. George Clooney, director of the film and Hollywood star, poses with an umbrella in the pouring rain at a UK special screening of ‘The Boys in the Boat’ at Curzon Mayfair. The film tells a 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington’s rowing team.,Image: 826454844, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter / Avalon
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- London, UK 03rd Dec 2023. George Clooney, director of the film and Hollywood star, attending a UK special screening of ‘The Boys in the Boat’ at Curzon Mayfair. The film tells a 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington’s rowing team.,Image: 826455331, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter / Avalon
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- George Clooney beim Specal Screeing des Kinofilms The Boys in the Boat im Museum of Modern Art. New York, 13.12.2023 *** George Clooney at the specal screening of the movie The Boys in the Boat at the Museum of Modern Art New York, 13 12 2023 Foto:xB.xHinex/xFuturexImagex boat_3230,Image: 829376585, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Barbara Hine / Avalon
I lost all respect for him. And any Dems being cagey (Pelosi most recently) or saying Biden should drop out. Either you knew he was that bad a year ago and said nothing, or you are reacting to a hysterical media narrative.
I’ve never seen such a cluster fuck circular firing squad. Dems better get their shit together.
I agree that the Democrats have messed this up.
But at the end of the day, beating Trump is the most important thing and Biden can’t do that. When you look at the polls as a whole Biden is behind, and they don’t even take into account all the shy republicans who are too ashamed to admit to pollsters that they will be voting for Trump.
At this stage, isn’t it better to gamble on the off chance that a new candidate might win rather than stick with Biden, who just can’t
A new candidate would ensure we would lose. It would be too messy and many who did vote proudly for Biden in the primaries would stay home because they would be so pissed.
LBJ announced in March 1968 that he wasn’t running again and that was still a clusterf*ck.
Honestly it’s not better at this point. If it’s not Joe Biden it has to be Kamala Harris. The hundreds of millions of dollars already raised for their re-election campaign can only go to her. Only they can release their delegates. So we would have to have an open brokered convention in a month, somehow put in ground game and all the states where the Biden Harris campaign has already set up offices and hired people, find money to raise to pay those people, find money to pay for political ads, and somehow find that magical candidate that several factions of the democratic party can vote on that also would not infuriate the base (black women) because you jettisoned their candidate, ignored the will of primary voters and get all people to vote for in November that has no background issues and name recognition. People with political acumen know all of this so I don’t understand why this fanfic is going on. I mean , I do , but people are still trying to find a way to not say the quiet part out loud because” only Republicans are racist”.
That was one example almost 60 years ago.
This situation is too important to be decided through anecdotes. Important decisions should be informed by hard data, in this case polling data.
Agree, @Becks1. This movement to oust Biden at this stage of the game, knowing a capable Harris is the VP nominee on the ticket, shows boneheaded disregard for the lessons of the past. Remember Steve Kornacki of MSNBC giving breathless coverage of Hillary Clinton’s health like it was election-night coverage. I say, get behind the Biden/Harris ticket like our lives, our freedoms depend upon it. Because they do.
@Jessica what is probably the closest analogous historical situation to this one is not an “anecdote.” It actually provides a good look at how this is likely to play out, but I guess its more convenient for people to dismiss history as “anecdotes.”
And also everything @Dee2 said is just spot on, especially this part – “somehow find that magical candidate that several factions of the democratic party can vote on that also would not infuriate the base (black women) because you jettisoned their candidate, ignored the will of primary voters and get all people to vote for in November that has no background issues and name recognition.”
There are too many moving parts here. It’s not going to happen and it should not happen. We need to move on and unite against Trump or else he will win again in November and that should terrify every single one of us more than Biden’s age.
@Jessica what polling data says right now that another candidate would poll better against Trump and who is that candidate?
So, we held primaries and people voted… throw all that democracy out so the billionaires can pick? These guys are as anti-democratic as the Trumpistas, and no where near as strategic.
That part. Let’s just disregard that President Biden has one every one of the primaries by a LOT and the other guy lost delegates to Haley. This smacks of ageism and racism by Clooney, all the other rich white celebrities like Rob Reiner, Stephen King, Steven Colbert, Jon Stewart, Mike Douglas and all the other democrats who are talking shit.
I am truly so grateful for the Governors who are stand up and backing PJB and VP Harris and this amazing electorate that will not be talked down to by these quitters.
Phone bank
Canvass
Post cards
We are going to re-elect Biden-Harris.
Right! He mentions Wes Moore, well he came out this week in complete support of Joe Biden, especially after the Key Bridge collapse. He’s not running against him.
I’ve been reading in Twitter that only Biden’s name was on the ballot for the primary, like in Delaware.
So not really any choice at all, & that’s part of the larger issue with Biden.
Agreed, they’ve made a mess of it and the dragging out isn’t helping Democrats at all, and the GOP are being very quiet because the Dems are doing a great job of shooting themselves in the foot.
This would be a great time for a Dem power broker to get the campaign, senate, house, governors, and key fundraisers together and knock some heads together to remind them that the internal swirl is helping Trump and they need to get it together. Vernon Jordan could’ve done it, now I’m not sure.
I agree. We Dems shoot ourselves in the foot all the time.
From the outside (Europe) looking in, trying to replace Biden, even with Harris, looks like political suicide. The other suicidal move was not thinking about Biden’s age in 2020. They including Biden, should have started thinking about his successor back then. You can’t predict the aging process, even if there is no underlying condition. You can’t go by how capable someone is at 78 to predict how they will be at 83. But it’s too late now and the smart thing for Dems would be to support their ticket 110%
This is to do with the threatened sanctions against Amal. Imagine putting that aside in favour of a trump presidency
The ONLY part of Clooney’s statement that I agree with is that spending 2 weeks telling us all we didn’t see what we saw is gaslighting and not effective. It’s not that much different than trying to tell us we really didn’t see an insurrection on January 6.
I will vote for Biden’s corpse over Trump. There is no other option. At the same time, I also have been left questioning his capability to be President now, let alone 4 years from now. Harris has my support because there is also no other option to her at this point. I would have loved a free an open Democratic primary with Harris going head to head with the likes of Whitmer, Newsome, Buttigeig, Booker, and others in this next generation of leaders. It’s well past time for that.
I think what he should have said is that in the two weeks there has been more focus on the one candidate we saw and not the other. Both men failed in that debate and it’s troubling that the only focus has been on Biden and not the other candidate that lied and ignored questions the entire debate. Dems are helping the Republicans by only focusing on Biden and not calling all of the lies that Trump told throughout that entire debate. By only focusing on Biden and ignoring where Trump failed in the debate, Dems are making it seem as if there was a winner of that debate when there wasn’t. As Dee(2) mentioned above, there is no time to find a clear candidate that everyone could get behind and that would be a clear winner against Trump. This overreaction shows that people are trying to ignore that right now we have a current President and Vice President up for reelection and for some reason people are ignoring the Vice President who is there in support of the President that they think is too old. Why is there suddenly this push to look only at Biden’s age, ignore Trumps racism, crimes and ineptitude just to pretend that Biden doesn’t have Kamala there in support of him?
Older rich white man with houses in uk and italian lakes to escape a second trump presidency says what?
Disappointed in George. How would he feel if this was said about his wife?
Thank you!!!
These are the same douches dude bros who helped torpedo Hillary. Fuck off. The voters are not falling for it. We can see since the debates that Joe Biden continues to do the job. Ask our NATO allies or look at all the campaign stops etc he has done since the debates. Trump was outed in the Epstein files but hey let’s continue to harp on something that happened two weeks ago.
And agree so much of this is about the gasp Black Lady you would become President if he died or stepped down. The white dude bros cannot handle it all. Fuck them. They are not the ones in firing line if the orange dingbat and his nazis friends get in.
They have been shocked that the voters are like nope-he do not care if Biden is old. Trump is old and insane and will destroy our country. So fuck off to your villa in Italy and shut up
I agree. It is a large part prejudice against Kamala.
I always thought Joe would retire earlier than the 4 years & Kamala would be president.
Like, I thought that was the plan, & a good one.
Turns out I was wrong.
I am embarrassed to admit I am blinded by the white– I could not understand the absolute push to be rid of Joe Biden in JULY of an election year, like he just turned old yesterday. I wasn’t even looking at VP Harris.
Thank you all for making it click. What an abysmal reality.
This 100%. These are the “Bernie Bros” of 2024. They don’t want a woman as President, period the end, and if Biden is reelected there’s a huge chance he won’t finish his term. Clooney, Stephen King, Rob Reiner are boomer white boys who only give lip service to wanting to defeat Trump. Any time the Dems have turned on incumbent candidates last minute, they’ve gotten slaughtered, 1968, 1980. Fools.
George Clooney is so thoroughly stuffed up his own ass. These men that think their points of view are so invaluable and intelligent simply because they are rich! He is an ACTOR, and rather one note at that. George can fuck all the way off with his old white man bullshit
Not just that. Clooney is an obscenely RICH white man who has the privilege of being able to jet off to his home on Lake Como whenever things turn crappy here in the States. He’s got the luxury of not having to concern himself with reproductive rights, Social Security, prescription prices or any of the other hundred things Trump is threatening. I don’t give the slightest crap what he thinks of Biden or Harris. He doesn’t speak for me, for sure. Joe all the way.
Thank you! And holy racism Batman. Cause it’s there. Screw George. I hope his and Pitt’s movie bombs.
Republicans stick together always and defend all sorts of rubbish this is one advantage the democrats don’t have.
I can’t believe anyone is suggesting someone other than Kamala. She’s the sitting Vice-President she would take over. Would Trump beat her? Probably unfortunately but they should have though of that during the primary. Biden did not suddenly get old!
It is illegal to transfer the money fundraiser to this point to anyone other than Biden/Harris. Republicans are alledgedly preparing lawsuits in every state if Joe drops out too
first off let me apologise i’m not american. second i’m glad i’m over the Clooney haze, i don’t watch his movies because i always fall asleep. But the most important thing, is he does he not see the woman standing strong beside Biden? Please let it not come down to we used her to win in 2020 now we dont need her, because the democrats failed to strategise beyond the election in front of them.In manyways due to her age she was always going to succeed Biden,but once again they are running scared of donald trump supporters because a Mixed race woman will be running the country for the next 10 years. If we buy into the story of the rise of the right was down to Obama being president.
George Clooney, Nancy Pelosi, and all these other rich a$$holes can f@ck all the way off. They know they will be fine regardless of who wins. The rest of us are literally voting like our lives depended on it. Biden old? What? Y’all didn’t know this before??? Where was this discussion a year ago. These people could never handle being in a black or brown person’s place. They have been bitching and ready to throw in the towel after ONE debate???? Regardless I’m voting for Biden because Project 2025 should scare the sh@t out of everyone.
Agreed 150% and more. There is no guarantee that someone else will win anyway. It’s a crap shoot no matter what. A new candidate is going to be able to raise millions of dollars in what 5 months? No matter what ppl think of Biden I think it would make the Democrats look weak. These talking head’s can do as they please. They don’t speak for the whole electorate anyway.
While I don’t live in the US, I’m nevertheless disgusted by all these mostly rich old white men — with a few young(er) white women strewn in for the sake of completeness.
These people have no arguments other than age. But then they go ahead and prove that they’re not only ageist, but elitist *and* misogynoir, which is something that I thought we’d left behind.
Not only has Joe more than 3800 delegates behind him, but there’s also the small technicality of statutory deadline for ballot access. And in some states the time for nominating a new candidate has passed already, and these people should know that. Especially before speaking out and damaging the brand that is the *Democratic Party*.
What really hurts though is seeing the very open hate for Vice President Kamala Harris.
If Biden loses his mental capacity while serving as President, I trust his Cabinet to remove him from power. The question is, do you believe if Trump gets the office, would the people he chooses do the same?
Well, they didn’t last time. Or even intervene during the riot.
I think he makes some fair points. Biden is a great politician and had done very well in his first term, but that shouldn’t mean he’s guaranteed a second. I have an aunt who is exactly the same age and at some point, it just shows. I do wonder why this wasn’t a private conversation as opposed to a very public one.
Trump is obviously the worst choice in all of this, but short of pulling a surprise Michelle Obama out of the hat (who has expressed point blank that she has no interest in running for office), I don’t
think another candidate has the necessary profile to win at this point. Could Clooney himself be a contender? I don’t think that’s his plan, but as a thought, would his movie star charm serve to win voters in a certain age bracket while his political leanings would appeal to younger voters?
Terrible waste of time and a ridiculous display of foolishness by someone who knows nothing about national political campaigns, but is letting his old fashioned Kentucky show— this is where we are and we have to focus on the awfulness of Trump and vote for Biden regardless.
Democrats are always looking for that one perfect candidate, a unicorn. Republicans just want someone who can get voted in and then forward their agenda; their person definitely does not have to be “perfect”, just perfect for advancing their power grab. Democrats are shooting themselves in the foot right now. The Republicans now have the time to regroup while Democrats fight amongst themselves. Again.
Exactly. They’re letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, and shooting the selva in the foot in the process. It should have been a no-brainer to pivot the messaging to all the terrible crap Trump said, and point out every good thing Biden, despite his age, has done. And point to the strong team behind him supporting this message and getting things done.
Instead they’ve gone down the road of internal squabbling. They’re their own worst enemy.
AGREED, and while we’re arguing about Biden, trump is just out there being as BSC as ever and the press is, like usual, just ignoring it.
I’m glad people are finally realizing that the Joe Biden is too old drumbeat, is about Kamala Harris. Donald Trump if you look at any of his rallies show clear signs of cognitive decline, won’t do any interviews, and beyond being a horrible person, his platform is basically to screw everyone that doesn’t kiss the Ring. But for some reason Joe Biden needs to drop out and the Vice President needs to step aside so that a bunch of people (that by the way already ran for president during the 2019 primaries and didn’t make it) can be wishcast into the role. It’s misogynoir plan and simple and it’s not just Republicans. People need to take a long look at themselves and ask why they are so ready for Gretchen Whitmer( who I like) but the actual Vice President isn’t an option.
Yes, concerns about Biden’s age have already been factored in by people who will vote for him no matter if he is in a coma. But there aren’t enough hard core “vote blue no matter who” folks to win in November. Right now, Biden is losing badly. And he was losing before the debate too. At this point in 2020, he was up by six points! Keep in mind he must win the popular vote by 4-5 points to carry the Electoral College. People aren’t freaking out because they don’t want Kamala. Many of the ones who want Biden to pass the torch want him to pass it to Kamala. And it’s the Biden campaign with their “hide the candidate’s condition” strategy which has caused the freakout. As Clooney pointed out, the debate presented voters with “new and upsetting information”, namely that Biden is incapable of making the case against Trump. Since he’s well behind, he must make that case. If Kamala is going to be the president in fact, we need to run her as the presidential candidate, not the power behind the throne. And when she gets asked a question about women’s reproductive freedom, she can and will answer it, not make s totally confused mess of it and segue into “illegal immigrant crime” like Biden did.
Thank you for this comment!
Personally, I’m afraid that Biden is damaged and he is not helping himself at all. That IG saying that he stayed longer at a fundraiser than Clooney makes no sense: 1. He’s running for president, 2. Clooney is free to leave if he’s not motivated by the candidate and did!, 3. People leaving early is a terrible look.
I’m afraid that Biden also started spouting nonsense about elites—this was Geert Wilders’ campaign if you want to know how the far right gains voters.
We need President Harris ASAP.
Yeah you are back!
Please go look up all of the articles the past two weeks talking about our VP is cringe, not smart, and a DEI hire. Sure. She’s totally going to win because America is not racist and sexist at all.
I’m proud to report I recently cancelled my NYT subscription andi told them exactly why. Now I can stop watching George Clooney movies, too!
Especially as the next Clooney movie has also got another unsavory ingredient: Brad Pitt.
I will happily be boycotting both, and leave comments everywhere on social media as to why — DV and misogynoir, among other things.
An inanimate object should be able to beat Donald Trump. We’re supposed to believe one of the most successful president’s can’t?
1) it’s ableist — Biden has a stutter. That includes some of the blinking people interpreted as him losing his train of thought.
2) Trump is just as old and lost the plot a long time ago.
3) What does it say about the state of the US that a rapist, felon, insurrectionist who was bestie’s with Epstein is even running?
Democrats are our own worst enemies. When Trump was tweeting “covefee” or whatever at 2 am and giving interviews citing “man woman tv camera” because it was some sign of his great memory or shitting his pants during interviews or telling people to inject themselves with bleach or whatever other nonsense he has spewed over the last 8 years – where were the calls for him to step aside? Where were the calls that he was too old (only two years younger than Biden)? Where were the calls that he can’t do the job?
The republicans didn’t care. They didn’t even ask that he surround himself with competent advisors. they asked that he signed off on their bills and their judges and that was enough for them.
Every single politician, celebrity, pod bro, and journalist should be asking these exact same questions about Trump.
At the end of the day, I believe Biden surrounds himself with competent and experienced people, beginning with VP Harris, and that makes me feel confident voting for him.
Also, Wes Moore? Clooney thinks Wes Moore, who has been governor of Maryland for a whole year, should run? like, wtf?
Exactly. People spout off about DT will make his own decisions and claim JB will be a “puppet”, but to me, a President should listen to advisors and experts and NOT think he knows everything.
Shut up George.
I’m for Biiden stepping aside and letting Kamala run for President. Has George said anything about Gaza? Not that I want him to speak out it but he has spoken out about other human rights abuses in the past.
Kamala is not winning just stop it. There is no fairy tale here. The press already hates her and the white dude bros doing this to Biden will do it her even worse. Ask Hillary. Joe Biden like it or not appeals to the white middle class voter and that is what matters in swing states. People need to be realistic. Biden stops Trump. Biden likely steps down half way through his term and Kamela becomes President is the more likely scenario and what is causing a lot of this teeth gnashing.
Biden wouldn’t have won in 2020 if Kamala wasn’t on the ticket. He was running Trump close before the debate and now his numbers have fallen behind Trump in some states. Kamala polls well against Trump and she would definitely put on a better performance against him in future debates if she was the candidate instead of Biden
There’s some speculation that this is because Biden spoke out about the ICC report about human rights abuses in Gaza (war crimes maybe?) and Clooney took exception because Amal worked on that report.
Clooney had a big fundraiser for Biden about three weeks ago so he had no problem with Biden’s stance on Gaza.
*shrug* that may be, but you asked if Clooney has said anything about Gaza. I tried to provide some potential context.
@Becks: I haven’t heard Clooney speak out about Gaza but the fact that he had a fundraiser for Biden says that he was ok with Biden’s position. He was still supportive of Biden until he saw the fallout from the debate last week so his op-ed has nothing to do with Biden’s comments about the ICC Report.
What a POS. I’m absolutely sure he did it out of spite after Biden’s administration clapped back at Amal. Outrageous.
I just wrote the same thing!!!
George Clooney wrote all of that only for the base of the party to tell him to fuck off! It would be hilarious if these times and the issues before us weren’t so perilous. Why are these fools being so shortsighted? We all know why really. They aren’t worried about Biden, but they are unnecessarily worried about Harris becoming president if something happened to Biden. They all just need to turn in their liberal credentials because none of them are progressive.
I love Joe Biden and think he’s been an amazing president. I’ve been truly impressed. However, four or five years ago he recognized people had concerns about his age and he said he would only run for one term. He’s aged significantly before our eyes, so what’s changed? Unfortunately (and sadly) I agree with Clooney. Presidential campaigns are gruelling and there’s simply too much at stake.
I suggest that anyone who thinks the concern is overblown try watching videos of Biden in 2020, both interviews and debates, then compare those videos to recent videos. The deterioration is obvious and disturbing. It’s almost like two different people.
So true.
Years, decades of talk radio, Rush Limbaugh anyone? Gerrymandering, voter suppression, social.media, bots, hard right by the GOP and NOW the Democrats are worried?! Is anyone wanting to step up to the plate, what about campaign donations that have gone to Biden, can that money be transferred to some magical candidate and by the way I don’t see anyone offering themselves as a candidate let alone coordinating a presidential campaign. The GOP is unabashedly racist and have captured the hearts and minds of half of American voters. Anyone see the recent marches of white supremacists and Nazi groups in Nashville? And the willful ignorance of the American press of what is plainly before their eyes of DJT, Project 25 and Agenda 43, is anyone covering that?
when I saw the headline I thought surely there is some other George Clooney that is somehow qualified to write this op ed but nope. this nepo baby with no qualifications can take all the seats in the back and stfu but we know he wont because he’s white and rich so therefore his opinion is important to someone somewhere.
I am old enough to remember when people told Barbra Streisand to stay in her lane because she wanted to direct a movie. this guy needs to stay in his lane.
Idiot. Gavin Newsom?! Lololol. Can he not see whatthis is doing ??? If it wasn’t so terrifying it would be funny. The ego ffs. The Democrat leadership consistently f**ks up. I blame the party for so much of this. They should have been SHINING up VP Harris. They did her and us dirty.
I really wish the rich white men would say we don’t want that Black woman in the WH and be done with it. Cause that’s all this is. The debate didn’t matter one iota. Polling shows that and they are all screaming about it because it’s the only thing they can hang their hat on. He’s been great for about two weeks since that shit.
But now all of a sudden, he needs a teleprompter (hi so does every freaking politician out there giving speeches!).
They keep trying writing out his stutters. The grossness of the ableism of so called liberals disgusts me. I really will not vote for any Democrat who has piled on this ever again.
I don’t disagree with him, at all, except for his timing. Last year was the time for this discussion; you all knew we had an old candidate then. He and the rest need to lock this sht down yesterday and shut up already. I am dumbfounded by the arrogance.
The GOP candidate is a rapist, a racist, a con man, a fraud, who is almost as old as Biden and allegedly himself struggling with dementia, who wants to dismantle the federal government and democracy as we know it, and he is holding all the cards right now. There is no “yeah but” here. Vote blue, or none of us will ever be voting again.
If George and his ilk think the base of the Democratic Party is just going to let them push out MVP Harris to make way for their white candidate, they are dumber than Trump and MTG combined. And any candidate that steps up to malign MVP at the convention better pray their white support is greater than the Black voters in their districts because we have long memories and will primary their asses into retirement. We are all in on Biden and Harris. George can STFU & STFD. Concentrate on promoting that movie with Pitt and leave politics to the people who’ll be effected the most.
I hate George Clooney for ruining George Clooney for me forever…
If Biden is so “unfit” to run for reelection, he is unfit today. The Republicans are loving Democrats imploding by turning on each other.
2 things can be true at once and this is an excellent example of that adage. Kamala Harris is amazing….but she won’t win in November if she is the top of the ticket. It’s not about her qualifications, her gender, her background. She has been dipped in the Biden disapproval ratings and it will sadly take her down. Frankly and frighteningly: I don’t think the Dems have a chance of winning in November. If she loses in 2024, she’s out for 2028. Better to let Newsom get handed his teeth this round (you’re welcome, Golden State!) than to lose the future.
I’m always interested in people’s perceptions of VP Harris. One of my sisters (who has lived in two very blue states during this term (one north, one west)) thinks that she must be incompetent because you “never hear about her” and the Biden administration “never lets her do anything/doesn’t put her out there”. Yet I live in NC and know that she visits here on behalf of the Biden administration very often – I suspect that they send her out to shore up the base in the purplish and red states. At the same time, it seems that she must not be visiting the blue states if my sister never seems to think she’s out in public. I wonder if that’s giving the wrong impression to blue state (when he’s here in the US – how often is that, anyway?) moneybag fundraisers like Clooney.
Amal is from Beirut, Lebanon. I wouldn’t even be mildly surprised if she hates Biden and that influenced George. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Biden’s stance on Israel will cost him the vote. People, esp Dems, are only using his age as an excuse.
Stupid articles like this are the reason Biden can’t step aside. The idea that with just 4 months to the election day you’re going to open up competition for the party’s nomination is just ridiculous. The logical answer is for the Vice President, who received over 80 million votes as part of the last presidential ticket and who hit the ground in 22 focusing on reproductive health issues that ended up being a driving force behind the lack of the red wave the media predicted, to be the nominee. The problem is establishment Democrats are too afraid to run a Black woman so in their mind the smart bet is forcing a haphazard last minute primary which will be a disaster for November. It would split the party even more and passing over Kamala would piss off the voting block they desperately need to turn out in November.
At least with Biden we still have the power of the incumbent; we have a much better chance winning with that than this stupid late primary idea.
Remember when Hilary was so sick? Remember when she was kidnapping children? Anyone who wants to take Biden’s place is free to do so. Declare your candidacy. Ted Kennedy ran against Carter. Biden doesn’t have to step down. Run against him. Otherwise shut up put your head down and push through. Biden can do this with all of us behind him. Focus on Epstein and the Supreme Court and Project 2025. It’s not about Biden. It’s about us.
I’m tuning all this out. My mind was made up on who I was voting for before the debate and nothing has changed for me in that regard. I’m not giving oxygen to this media circus.
Thank you! Insert the ‘I feel like I am taking crazy pills’ gif here. The conversations of the past two weeks have been utterly astonishing to me. This group of commentators (Clooney, King, pod bros) are absolutely doing the Republicans’ work for them. We have four months!!! There is no way we switch candidates and win. All that has happened is our candidate has been damaged BY HIS OWN SIDE. This is infuriating to me. And we should all know by now that the media and talking heads will do exactly the same thing to whoever is put forward as the candidate. And amen to everyone who recognizes the misogynoir that is rampant in these discussions already. I can’t even this week! Let’s focus — it is Biden/Harris to beat Trump and Project 2025. There won’t be a 2028 if he gets back into office!!
People need to stop all this idiotic nonsense, get on board the Biden/Kamala train and put all energies towards winning this election. Enough of eating your own. Say what you will about the ReThugs, they stay lock step in unity and always play the long game. Dems, progressives, etc, always in search of some non existent perfect candidate. All these a-holes mouthing off about replacing Biden will be the cause of him losing re-election. Try replacing Kamala with some generic white savior and the Dems will experience the biggest case of FAFO ever.
I think that Black voters (I am one) keep seeing the white men and white women hysteria and are getting real turned off by it. Whether you like it or not, we selected along with 14 other Americans the Democratic candidate for President. You either vote for him or not. We all watched that debate and hard shrugged. I think it’s gross here and elsewhere not one supposed liberal seems to care that Donald Trump talked about black jobs being stolen by Hispanics. Talked about H20 which I still don’t get and Democrats killing babies after birth. At this point if we lose, we lose cause we decided to do this crap right now. If you didn’t want Biden, you could have primaried him. But not one of the magical unicorns that Clooney wanted to would do it and that’s why he is mad.
Also, there is zero way for them to switch now and doing it at a convention with only really 4 weeks to fix ballots in other states is not happening. Early voting starts in two states in September.
The GOP already said it would sue in several states and would have standing to do so.
So you already have the 2020 election was rigged. Well in 2024 you are going to hear that even louder and it’s going to be coming from both Democrats and Republicans this time.