George Clooney wrote his now-infamous New York Times editorial in July, wherein he insulted President Biden for being too old and said that Biden should step aside and the Democrats should pass over the sitting vice president and hold a mini-primary before the convention. Clooney’s delusion became THE talking point for many Democratic donors as they dreamt of installing someone like Wes Moore or Mark Kelly as the nominee with zero money and zero credibility with average Democratic voters nationwide. Many elected Democrats publicly echoed Clooney’s words, including Nancy Pelosi and a dozen senators. Then, eleven days later, Biden dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris, and the party quickly coalesced behind her and she raised a billion dollars. When Clooney was in Venice, he was asked about his NYT op-ed, and he said that “none of that is going to be remembered.” Guess who remembered? Everyone.
Democratic voters would like a quick word with movie star George Clooney. Clooney, the movie star whose New York Times editorial heralded the ouster of President Joe Biden from the 2024 presidential race, was the subject of some frustration after former President Donald Trump secured the nation’s highest office.
“Someone bring me George Clooney,” wrote altNOAA, the veteran-led political commentator group launched in response to the Trump administration’s so-called “gag order” on the Environmental Protection Agency. “We need to have a… talk.”
Clooney was among a slew of high-profile Americans who urged Biden to walk away from the race after his lone debate against Trump raised concerns about the 81-year-old’s ability to defeat the MAGA Republican.
Biden later claimed he had a cold, but Democratic critics such as Clooney argued that was beside the point considering the stakes if he continued — and what he said was the likelihood that another candidate could easily defeat Trump.
“We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign,” Clooney wrote. “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 tweets are there, the outrage is there. It will be one of the great political unknowns in American history, “what if Democrats hadn’t been such bedwetters and stayed in lockstep behind an enormously successful president?” While Biden’s approval rate was very low six months ago or whatever, I maintain that most people were not paying attention to Biden or anything else before Democratic turncoats began screaming about his age. Democrats have to reckon with how they mishandled all of that, because they looked disorganized and incredibly eager to stab Biden in the back. But yeah… Clooney can f–k all the way off.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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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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- HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 18: (L-R) Brad Pitt and George Clooney attend the premiere of the Los Angeles Premiere of the Apple Original Film “Wolfs” at TCL Chinese Theatre on September 18, 2024 in Hollywood, California.,Image: 909712095, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 18: George Clooney attends the premiere of the Los Angeles Premiere of the Apple Original Film “Wolfs” at TCL Chinese Theatre on September 18, 2024 in Hollywood, California.,Image: 909712602, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: George Clooney, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
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- 81st Venice International Film Festival – Celebrity Sightings – Day 5 Featuring: Amal Clooney and George Clooney Where: Venice, Italy When: 01 Sep 2024 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- 81st Venice International Film Festival – ‘Wolfs’ Premiere Featuring: Amal Clooney, George Clooney Where: Venice, Italy When: 01 Sep 2024 Credit: KIKA Press/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN ITALY**
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- 2024 The Albies Hosted by the Clooney Foundation for Justice at the New York Public Library Featuring: George Clooney and Amal Clooney Where: New York city, New York, United States When: 26 Sep 2024 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
“none of that is going to be remembered.” he said…
The Fuck we won’t.
Clooney makes his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck at the Winter Garden Theatre. Have fun with that short run kid.
Considering how red NY turned this election (44%☹️☹️☹️☹️).
I wouldn’t be so sure.
Always looking for someone to blame. It wasn’t the Op-ed. I agree with this. Even California was more red y’all. Now what I will say is that the US has proven that it is more misogynistic than racist. 14 million people set this election out. Some set it out and some were pushed out with the purging of the rolls across the nation. This isn’t on George, honestly.
@Tanisha @Jegede You don’t push out the incumbent who has done the incredible job that PJB did for this country and the world. Inside Dems (Pelosi) got spooked and fucked up. Aided by the corporate oligarch media ownership harping about Joe’s age and non-existent cognitive decline and Hunter Biden and RACISM this is where we are.
@girl_ninja – Totally agree.
There is no question that lots and lots and lots of people sat this out. And they weren’t on the Republican leaning side.
As for the share of the blame, I’d put it on the entire Democratic Party establishment who freak out while claiming they need to be morally superior, and while completely ignoring the tsunami of R-wing crap and misinformation flooding the zone, the media, the polls, etc.
As far as NYT goes, let’s give a great big shout out to thought leader Ezra Klein.
When did we suddenly turn to movie stars for political guidance?
Stick to tequilas.
1980 when Ronald Regan was elected.
Good. I hope people side-eye him for the rest of his life.
Biden would have lost if he had stayed in anyway.
We don’t know that. Biden was loved in the Rust belt.
We sort of do. All the polls show that he was less likely to win than Kamala Harris.
He may have been loved once but those states now (unfairly) blame him for inflation and Kamala wasn’t given enough time to either convince them otherwise or distance herself from his perceived legacy
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. If voters in the Rust Belt (and anywhere else) couldn’t get behind Kamala after Biden himself endorsed her, that says more about them than it does about her as a candidate.
This is not Clooney’s fault, it’s not Pelosi’s fault, it’s not Biden’s fault…I’m not even okay with saying it is the Democratic party’s fault.
The majority of Americans (voting and non-voting) support or are ambivalent to Trump as a candidate and his message. Please understand that as you interact with others from now on, ESPECIALLY minorities. That majority will NOT protect you. If they knew you had an abortion and might get compensated for reporting you, they WILL report you! Again, please understand this.
They have sold you out for the unclear promise of a little bit of cash to spend on gas and groceries. They have sold you out to impoverish you and trap you in loveless relationships and marriages so you can be the trad wife they always hoped for.
Stop the in-fighting and blaming the people who actually did their part and voted for Harris. Save your ire for those that stayed home and those that voted for Trump.
sadly, we do. America told us that at her heart it is a fascist loving white supremacy. The country did so very explicitly based on the election results
Exactly.
The East Coast gains for Republicans are shocking. Especially New York.😨😨😨😨😨
People forget that a big part of NY is rural and they all support Trump. I am grateful as a New Yorker we stayed blue. But I do see a time we could flip red.
Trump is just the beginning next will be Vance or Junior. Trump just wanted his second term. He doesn’t give a F about anything but his legacy and lining his pockets on the way out.
white Americans (white Christians to be more specific and not just the evangelical/uber religious ones) overwhelmingly want to protect and advance white supremacy. Black people, Jews, LGTBQ & those with no religious affiliation are the only demographics that overwhelmingly & consistently vote to protect civil rights for everyone. Even Asians were only 54% for Harris. I think we need to accept that among racial minorities, with the exception of Black people, there is an animus against recent emigres base on what I can only guess is a very American “I got mine, F the rest of you” attitude
New Yorkers hate Trump. He knows they do. He knows New Yorkers will never accept him, or his trash ass children.
There’s not being able to afford to live in NYC anymore. And then there’s not being accepted by New Yorkers, even if you can afford to live there.
Trash ass people, the Trumps and Kushners.
I think so, too, and what GC said was only what a lot of people were thinking and feeling about Biden and KH. Not everyone is a racist or sexist just because they chose not to vote for KH. Some voters chose their candidate based on which one they felt was the lesser of two evils. Some saw KH as the lesser, some did not.
👏🏿👏🏿
I can’t believe I live in a world that saw Kamala eviler than a man that publicly declared immigrants ‘they are eating the dogs they are eating the cats’
That will shape the world for the next four years and beyond.
Democracy is dead.
How many thought 1933 better Adolf than the communist or socialists? We give him the chancellor and in some weeks or months he proofs how incompetent he is and it’s over.
They all ended as his followers or were his opponents first go to concentration camps. Even parts of his own SA when they were to powerful against him.
Controller over parliament, government, press, courts followed and there were never again free votes.
You are racist & sexist. And saying your not won’t make it true. Your actions speak for itself.
I agree with this. Biden should have stepped aside long before, and the Democrats should have had a proper primary – then maybe we would have had a chance. The bigger issue is the alt-right propaganda machine that pumps out so much misinformation and lies, and the mainstream media sane-washing Trump with all his insanity, lies, and criminality, all this time, pretending like he is some “normal” candidate. It feels like so many voters are just uninformed about objective facts and reality and somehow think now that gas prices and the price of eggs will come down miraculously with Trump’s nonsense about tariffs, as if lol. I guarantee within a few months of Trump taking office, he will brag about the economy (the same economy that he will inherit from Biden – with low inflation rates, low unemployment, low crime rates). Trump will take credit for all of that, and his idiotic supporters will believe him.
That’s my gut feeling, but we’ll never know.
I agree with Amy Bee, Holly, Lemons, Jegede, and W. People definitely were paying attention to Biden after that June debate, and it was demotivating people who live in very blue states, very red ones and people living abroad. I had never heard from so many people who were (considering) not voting in my life.
I do think there should have been a difficult primary, but I have no idea if it would have helped against a cultist, a misinformation campaign, and misogyny/ racism/ cluelessness about economics.
Fascism doesn’t stop. It doesn’t suddenly improve. I don’t really feel hingry snd I havd a tummy ache from all this, but when I feel a bit better, I will be back to help. I’m not going to attack my side, I’m saving that for Trump. I love my friends and family and the country I was born in. I am not going back to the 1950s
Biden would have lost by 10 points or more based on this electorate. And truthfully, I don’t think he’s up to the job anymore.
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you ”― Lyndon B. Johnson. The quote applies to both men and women in this country.
👏👏👏
Clooney has overstepped by a mile.
He started a sh*t storm.
He and other actors/celebs did more harm than good with their endorsements.
Voters do not want to be talked down to. Period.
Now, let’s see all these multi-millionaire celebs join together using their money and status to fund programs for ppl in need, in fear of deportation.
The “influencers” are starting the blame game and crying.
BS!
We need help to be safe, to survive under Trump.
Nancy Pelosi, that woman has decades of experience, has a personal net worth of $250Million and she stands at the concession speech in tears. Dammit, I’m a lifelong Dem. Get the Dems to LEAD! Take action NOW.
Clooney can pound sand in hell!
That plus his bromance with wife abuser Pitt has ended his relevance. Do us all a favour, shut your mouth and retire to one of your many lavish home, and stay the eff out of politics Clooney, it ain’t your forte.
We all make mistakes in life. And many we live to regret. This is one you will live to regret George. You’ve always wanted a toe in to effect politics. Well you did. But not in a good way.
Biden would have lost by more than Harris if he had stayed anyway.
This was a last ditch effort not to have Trump and Putin f*ck up the world for years, but didn’t work anyway
Yep.
The turnouts, the energy, the engagement………EVERYONE was predicting a Harris win, and relieved Biden had stepped off.
Now the blame game starts.
I got yelled at here when I made this statement when the Dems ditched Biden in August. I’ve looked at exit polls since 1972. WM/WW and BM numbers have not changed in over 50 years. We know this. Why do we continue to act surprised? Folks are consistent. Dems know folks do not vote rationally or logically and are pushed by emotions. That’s human nature so work with it. The two most popular Dem presidents. We’re Clinton and Obama. Why? They were charismatic. Be smart but move strategically period
Exactly my thoughts. I still think the optics of the Biden push out were terrible. They certainly made me side eye Clooney and by extension, the party operatives.
The only “one” to blame are all the people who chose not to vote or voted for Trump and their crazy crazy and all kinds of different reasons for doing so : Gen Z white men who have been radicalized by Joe Rogan types and toxic online groups, older white women who claim they voted for Trump because he cares about their female health and will “protect” women from vaccinations and masks, American-Arab population who just “can’t” support Kamala or who actually believe Trump can stop all wars. I won’t stick my head in the sand and get lost in these silly Clooney discussions – we need to understand the amount of disinformation and just bizarre thinking out there that is making people self-destruct with their voting choices.
Bella, most of the older women voted blue because of Roe, social security and medicare. This isn’t about that. The West coast and Arizona still have a lot of outstanding ballots to count. I want to see what the total is. Something seems off about the counts to me.
“And yet that was not a winning message for white women. A recent Times/Siena showed that the majority of white women, like their white male counterparts, saw inflation and the economy as their top voting issue. Abortion was second, and immigration was third. To be sure, there is a notable age split here: Gen Z women only went 36 percent for Trump, women aged 30 to 44 went 41 percent for Trump, women aged 45 to 64 went 48 percent for Trump, and women over 65 backed the former president 45 percent. ”
https://newrepublic.com/post/188061/white-women-harris-trump-exit-polls
Like I said lots of groups came together to elect Trump – it’s not just white women (black women overwhelmingly voted for KH) – but these are the stats I’m referring to…
Exactly. The Clooney issue is a distraction. Can we please focus on this odd result that nobody predicted?
Future elections are in danger of becoming extinct if the Republicans have figured out how to rig the ballot box, and no amount of perfect/charismatic Democrat will have a chance of contesting the presidency ever again.
I saw an interview on an AZ campus and some dumbass white girl said she’d vote for rump bc he “said he wouldn’t ban abortion.”
👁️ 👄 👁️
Yep white nationalism is what won. White people are so afraid of becoming the minority in this country they vote against their own interest. They don’t want to give up white privilege and all it give them.
You all keep saying that Biden would have lost if he stayed in the race. I’m telling you that most WHITE people did not turn out AND democrats and independent women VOTED for that orange deviant. This is on white people who embraced racism. Period.
How much $$ is Clooney worth?
Walk the walk buddy. Donate $10M out right to the ACLU today.
And this is why celebs should not be pushed to the for front of any political race.
We should not depend or rely on celebs to shape our political views.
I’ll blame him, Pelosi, the Pod Bros, MSM and anyone who undermined and underreported the successes of the Biden administration, who normalized and kiki’d Trump’s racism, homophobia, transphobia and overall mental unstableness. They won’t be affected by any of Trump’s policies, but my 15 yo sister will. My parents who rely on their SS will be. So who the F cares if Clooney, Stephen King, Rob Reiner, et al are being blamed for truth telling? Yes, Biden is old, but he was doing his damn best, so maybe those Democrats, those Liberals, should have fallen in line like Republicans do and voted for him and his highly competent Vice President. The country would have been fine in her hands should he have fallen ill or died, but no…it was f’ing better for Clooney et al to voice their “concerns” 3 months out. It was so much better to backstab the sitting President to switch the House and keep the Senate and WH. How did that work out? Huh?
Is anybody going to say anything about Bette Midler?
She posted a pic of a bottle of Champs with a label “Kamala wins” and a bottle of Drano with a label “Trump wins”
then right after Trump won, she deleted her account.
This type of grandstanding, for lack of a better word, is a prime example why celebs are turning off Voters.
I have enjoyed Bette music for decades but this is just a bad, childish look.
Join and fund organizations that help ppl in need instead. JMO.
I said this on threads, i’ll say it here:
NANCY PELOSI :2024 :: JAMES COMEY: 2016
Fight me.
You are 100% correct.
James Comey has a lot of bad karma due him.
You are correct @notsosocialb… I wanted Comey Fired after the Pulse nightclub massacre – no one listened to me! He should have stepped down then! None of his BS in 2016 would have surfaced…
Anthony Weiner 2016 he’s the one that kicked it off for Comey to poop on Hillary’s run at the win.
You probably don’t know enough about Comey, not that I blame you. I would prefer to know less than I do.
History will put all these people in their proper place.
I won’t be surprised if the backstabbers claim there would have been better results if their demands had been adhered to fully and they got Their mini primary.
I have never seen folks as energized, joyful, and enthusiastic about a democratic ticket as they were about this one. Obama’s first run was comparable, but I don’t think it was better.
I know the US is racist and sexist (couldn’t miss that living in a Black female body) I have a hard time accepting the numbers. All of a sudden historic numbers of new voters, historic turn out results in 20,000,000 less voters. I think we have a howdunit on our hands. I suspect outside election interference amounted to more than bomb threats. Bomb threats might have been the diversion for added credible. #clutchingatstraws
“I have never seen folks as energized, joyful, and enthusiastic about a democratic ticket as they were about this one”
That’s what I can’t wrap my head around. Was it all performative again and all these voters would say the right thing in public. Secretly just vote for Trump. Or sat on their hands again.
I understood the Hillary hate since she came with a lot of baggage. But Harris Walz team. Just seemed so perfect to me.
🎯
I’m still seething.
I think the tone of Clooney’s op ed was condescending. He may be a human rights activist married to another human rights activist, but to most people, he’s just a movie star past his prime. He kinda acted like he was some expert on presidential campaigns just because he’s a donor. Really, stay in your lane.
That said, President Biden, for all the good he has done, was having a lot of trouble articulating what he has done and what he planned to do if re-elected. For that reason alone, stepping aside for Kamala, who was a much more effective communicator, was the correct call.
“He may be a human rights activist married to another human rights activist[.]”
He’s Hollywood through and through, and she’s a Hollywood wife through and through. I was once a sweet summer child, too, though.
Let’s be quite clear: kamala lost cos she’s the wrong gender. It shoulda been a male against Trump. Both times he won it was a female against him. He lost to a male. And Biden was older than him. The US is not ready for a female president, no matter how much better she is than the male opponent. It may never be. Had the dem candidate been a male we would be sighing relief at the bullet we dodged. I have zero doubt about that. And I liked kamala, so this is not a takedown of her, it’s an indictment of the mysoginy of this country.
Agree, I thought we got past that when she became VP. But it really was the white man in front people voted for.
I hate people.
Sadly, this is what happened. I had a sinking feeling the last 3 months that her being a woman would matter, but deep down I hoped it wouldn’t, that our country majority was so sick of Trump, and her campaign was great, fundraising was great. So who knew. This election was too important to take any chances and the people who knew behind the scenes that Biden was struggling should have done something way sooner, or him not running for a second term.
🎯
Who would have guessed that Mexico would have a female president before USA? Certainly not me. But I would be wrong 😑
Latinos, for all their sexism, are born into women being the head of the house. Not so with Americans. In America, men are the head of the household. And Latinos are far more deeply religious than Americans. It isn’t JESUS for Latinos. It’s Mary.
So, naturally, Mexicans would, and Americans wouldn’t.
L’Orange is a media creation, starting with The Apprentice.
The producer recently apologized for building his persona as a successful mogul, i.e. creating his television boardroom when L’Orange’s was too outdated for television. He explained that real moguls were too busy to do television shows. L’Orange’s ghostwriter on Ar t of the S teal also did the same for writing a book that suggested that his subject knew anything about business. [the “sane washing” for profit began early]
As with his television producer the political media and others did the same by normalizing the abnormal and ‘sane washing” the unhinged.
As always the elephant was held to a lower standard of morality and competence than the donkey.
The media creation is now speaking of killing reporters. Well that has been normalized in the Middle East where a few of his compatriots are.
I’m going to give a few more days for the shock and anger to lessen.
And then I expect the leaders of the Dem party to get to work.
Stop blaming, stop the excuses, Get to Work to help us.
Trump is now King-like in power and ego, he is going to go full out lunatic.
Steve Bannon is already gloating and boasting about their list of first to go.
The Dems must fight and work across party lines. Inch by inch, every single avenue must be worked.
I’d bet my next paycheck that Trump/Vance have had teams constantly working on how to ruin us and profit for themselves. Evil never rests.
Scary months ahead. I prayed every night this wouldn’t happen but it has. Have some maga relatives I’m going to have to limit from my life for my own sanity. Can’t deal with it anymore.
The more I see of the celebs who backed KH online today, the more strongly I feel about this.
Hear me out, please.
Those who are wealthy celebs, Clooney, Bruce S, Taylor, Bey, Em, Kimmel, Midler, Barbra S., Rachel M., Pelosi, Obama, on and on ….. Now is the time to fund the organizations that can actually help those of us in danger.
I am dead serious about this call to arms.
Reach out with more than words of support!
Kimmel, Colbert, Oliver, Stewart, Meyers, Fallon are all on air with words, we need funding and action!
Nancy Pelosi is making me truly angry!
She has a personal worth of $250 Million. Donate, donate, donate to human rights, the ACLU, every existing organization that can protect those at risk. If we are now politically toothless, then we need our libs with $$ to Step Up!
It is not enough to fundraise for Campaigns anymore. A Billion spent and we lost. Wake Up.
He looks horrid. Jaundiced??
Pepperidge Farms Remembers..
Yup.
George Clooney is not looking healthy.
That’s all I got.
Given the current political climate, I think celebrity endorsements are now doing more harm than good. The hard core trumpers don’t give a crap about what they think. And we (the general public who are left-leaning) know that their money insulates them from a lot. They have a voice, same as any other voter, but I’ll look to others for political opinions. I was happy to see Beyonce and Kelly come out for Kamala, but I’ve come to view celebrities as people with cool jobs, that’s it. And given the outcome of this horrid election, I couldn’t care less about what GC did. I’m not taking his words to mean anything, and given how hard people went for that vile pig, I seriously doubt Biden would have beaten him.