Clooney: Pressuring Biden to drop out was a "mistake"
Source: Salon
Published November 30, 2025 2:08PM (EST)
George Clooney was one of the loudest voices calling for former President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 election. In a recent interview with The Times of London, the actor said that pushing Biden out of the race was a “mistake.”
Speaking to the outlet in a joint interview with Adam Sandler, the “Jay Kelly” star said former Vice President Kamala Harris was left with too steep a hill to climb. “She was given a very tough task,” he said. Following Harris’ loss, the Democrats are left with no easy answers for their next presidential candidate.
The prominent Democratic Party booster balked at predicting the field for 2028. “Honestly, the next election is three years away, and if you look at the election cycles, two years from when Bill Clinton won, we thought Paul Tsongas was going to be the nominee,” he said. “We thought it would be Hillary when Barack Obama won, so we’re far away from having to home in on who could run for the Democratic Party — we’ll see, we’ll wait.”
The actor told the Times that partisan politics in the United States obscured common desires. “Look, it’s an interesting time in my country, but most people, right and left, want the same. They want a job with dignity, health for themselves and their family,” he said. “And so whoever runs has to be able to articulate the common ground, because division is getting us nowhere.”
Read more: https://www.salon.com/2025/11/30/clooney-pressuring-biden-to-drop-out-was-a-mistake/
He was doubling, tripling, quadrupling, and quintupling down with his arrogant backstabbing moves, literally all year, insulting everyone in earshot. So I wonder what finally got him to crack? The country's destruction maybe?
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DavidDvorkin
(20,453 posts)
marble falls
(69,954 posts)
CTyankee
(67,667 posts)
calimary
(88,655 posts)He squandered whatever positive opinions I had of him.
Easy to say you’re sorry NOW, George. And I’m sure you actually are. But you’re too late. All the apologies in the world don’t matter after you helped make sure Trump got back into the White House.
The damage has already been done. And we’re ALL stuck with it. As are YOU, also.
He has the luxury of living in France or Italy............no face covered ice agents in his street.....
tanyev
(48,421 posts)As he watches the collapse of the U.S. from his Italian villa on Lake Como.
FalloutShelter
(14,067 posts)
Keepthesoulalive
(2,055 posts)Like forever.
greatauntoftriplets
(178,562 posts)I coulda told him that 18 months ago. 
2naSalit
(99,252 posts)Fuck you Clooney, your name is shit in my book. Fuck you!
yourout
(8,676 posts)We were screwed either way
Bluetus
(2,052 posts)if Biden had renounced a second term before the primary season started.
As it happened, there was no question Biden had to leave the race, but equally true, there was no way the slot could be given to anybody but Harris. It was unfair to her because she had no practical way to establish her own campaign messages in that short window, and some people felt she didn't deserve the spot because she didn't earn it through a proper primary.
I think Harris could have won the primaries and go on to beat Trump if that had been done in a more orderly way. We'll never know now.
vanlassie
(6,206 posts)And I never want to hear about George Clooney again. Ever.
Bluetus
(2,052 posts)what Trump and Musk meant when Trump said nobody knows more about the "vote-counting computers" aka tabulators, and others reported they saw Musk with an app on his phone that was receiving live results from tablulators, which only could have been possible if they were hacked in a very elaborate way.
travelingthrulife
(4,026 posts)Why? Why did he have to leave the race? Because the media created a dementia he did not have? Because of one stupid debate? Because of the thousands of lies Republicans pushed against him?
Bluetus
(2,052 posts)But we can't change that and there is no point in bringing back that debate.
We need to be putting our attention on building a younger, more energetic party that works hard to connect with the people and doesn't roll over on command.
Blasphemer
(3,552 posts)Look where we are now.
badhair77
(5,071 posts)and now he’s backtracking. Everyone is entitled to an opinion it why did his warrant a place in the NYT. The consequences are horrific. I agree, I think he should take a pause for a while.
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)Does it actually say that shiving Joe Biden was a mistake?
BumRushDaShow
(164,134 posts)The "political" stuff mentioned by Salon is down further in the above-linked article so you can get the context of the whole interview (which seemed to be generally "entertainment"-focused on him and Adam Sandler).
Florida Dem
(56 posts)I couldn't find it either. In my opinion, if Biden had been the candidate to finish the race, it would have been a bloodbath. The disastrous debate performance was an absolute deathblow to any chance he might have had of winning. His main objective at the debate was to dispel any notion that he was too old or not up to the job. He failed miserably. There was no recovering from that.
Harris was a far superior campaigner and communicator than Biden. And don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Biden. I thought he was a great president and is a great guy. His one mistake was to not not serve one term and bow out at a much earlier date.
Everybody has their own opinion on this. And I hate to see it resurrected again at this late date. I am in 100% agreement with Clooney and I believe him when he says that Biden was not the same as he was when he had last seen him. In my view, it is a fantasy to believe that Biden would have done better than Harris in the election. All evidence says otherwise, including multiple polls. There was an immediate uplift in the energy of the democratic party when she took over. She did great at that debate and the Democrats had an incredible convention.
The blame belongs with the people who sat out the election. Full stop. Enough with the looking back and the hand wringing. Let's do what needs to be done to wrestle this country away from the the maniacs and extremists. We are teetering on the edge of never being able to get it back as they rapidly consolidate power.
MLWR
(703 posts)Goddam right it was. It was the most disastrous mistake of your life. Millions of people will suffer for it. Thanks a heap.
soldierant
(9,189 posts)Plenty of people were also loud - and wrong. One of them was one of my Senators. And I'm pretty sure he knows now that he was wrong - he hasn't addressed that exactly, but he's going to run for Governor instead of for reelection. I hope he loses rhe promary to our AG, Phil Weiser.
MuirHero
(79 posts)We all watched that disastrous debate last June. The campaign's internal polling numbers clearly showed that Biden was on track to lose in a landslide to Trump and we would have lost even more seats in the House and the Senate. The democratic leadership acted accordingly when they urged Biden to drop out of the race.
There are those here who may strenuously disagree with that and that's OK, but I can tell you as a Democratic Committeeperson for 40 years that I received dozens of phone calls from rank and file Democrats in my precinct who were in a full blown panic after that debate and were convinced that Biden could not win and that he needed to bow out of the race.
We should not lose sight of the fact that despite running the shortest presidential campaign in modern times, Kamala Harris came close to winning the popular vote. She only trailed Trump by a little more than 1%.
CTyankee
(67,667 posts)Kamala was valiant, truly courageous and strong. I love her for what she did and I was so certain she would win. 
SnoopDog
(2,695 posts)There was not a primary - the primary voters were not given a chance to select their candidate.
Clooney and whoever selected her.
Biden was forced out and look what it brought us...
agingdem
(8,728 posts)and you can bet publicly kicking Biden when he was at his most vulnerable did not sit well with Hollywood moguls..Clooney can take his “mistake” and shove it up his ass!
Bluetus
(2,052 posts)And for those who have not been paying attention, there is no reason to believe that was just one bad day. He has remained out of the spotlight, so I guess we will not know. But considering his prostate cancer outlook, it seems pretty clear he could not do the job at this stage of his life.
It is an ugly reality of our system that sometimes voices outside the Beltway have outsized influence. But nobody would have paid any attention to Clooney if what he was saying was not what most people were feeling but didn't want to speak it.
Mr. Sparkle
(3,568 posts)RockRaven
(18,522 posts)you obviously don't know enough to be making good decisions? No? Oh, well...
bucolic_frolic
(53,506 posts)If they had thrown the whole field open in December, and included Biden, Harris, and whoever wanted to run, it would have grabbed headlines like never before. I know that's not the way it's done. Sitting president and all. But still. Nothing conforms to precedent now.
mamajudi
(71 posts)This makes me really peeved... How dare he come back and say it was a mistake??? Dang right it was!! He has really changed my opinion of him as an actor. When I see an ad for his latest movie, I shake my head and say to myself, I'll never watch it. I cannot look at him the same way because I use to enjoy his acting. Now, he doesn't deserve my time..
AllaN01Bear
(28,228 posts)
mahina
(20,223 posts)I told him so that day. And God bless her for stepping up, but I turned off a lot of late night TV hosts and podcasters who entertained themselves using Joe as a trampoline.
George has yet to acknowledge that I dumped him. I think he might be taking it pretty hard.
2MuchNoise
(665 posts)mahina
(20,223 posts)
lastlib
(27,290 posts)YOU, as much as anybody else, put us in this mess. You're the shit of slime, George. You're done.
Skittles
(168,851 posts)Trump lowered the bar for the American presidency so low it's pretty much rolling on the ground. ANY FUCKING ONE WOULD BE BETTER THAN HIM.
lonely bird
(2,653 posts)Sure, they fucked it up. It never should have gotten that far. It made the party look fucking stupid and disorganized.
That being said we do not get to know what would have happened. Sure, we can speculate but that doesn’t mean a thing.
This land squarely on the electorate. Once the decision was made enough idiots wouldn’t vote for a woman so they fucked the whole country. I am tired of the gross stupidity, racism and misogyny of too many in the electorate.
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)Enough with the whinging about 'weren't allowed my choice' ...
No! - you dipsh*t - you were presented with A binary choice - (regardless of how we got there) - with a difference separating the two options, big enough to drive a friggin' front-end loader through! And you went off to sulk - or pulled the lever for the ignorant, bumbling, racist, grifter, felon ... (that you had already seen in action for 4 years)
So, yes - this is definitely on you - you whiny little f*cking bitches !
Hope you enjoy yourselves while health care and your universities grind to a halt over the next three years - and your neighborhoods become playgrounds for military exercise. Have fun, y'all !!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LoisB
(12,129 posts)Grim Chieftain
(1,022 posts)vilified one of the most ethical presidents of our lifetime. That helped usher in one of the most horrific presidents in US history. Clooney can go straight to hell.
NoMoreRepugs
(11,747 posts)Grim Chieftain
(1,022 posts)I just want him to suffer his vilification of Biden which helped usher in Trump.
LisaL
(47,337 posts)It's the rest of us. He doesn't even live in the US.
Grim Chieftain
(1,022 posts)What gives him the right to weigh in, other than his inflated ego?
BootinUp
(50,685 posts)czarjak
(13,378 posts)Trump WAS correct. Vlad validated it too!
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)czarjak
(13,378 posts)But miraculously making it up without some shenanigans. Huh?
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)the popular vote (by decent margin) in 2024
lost the popular vote (and election) to Joe Biden in 2020
and won the electoral college (while losing the popular by a few million) against Hillary Clinton in 2016
And in none of these contests was the margin anything even close to 10 million.
2016 Hillary Clinton Democratic 65,853,514 48.2%
2016 Donald Trump Republican 62,984,828 46.1%
2020 Joe Biden Democratic 81,283,501 51.3%
2020 Donald Trump Republican 74,223,975 46.8%
2024 Donald Trump Republican 77,303,573 49.9%
2024 Kamala Harris Democratic 75,019,257 48.4%
twodogsbarking
(17,085 posts)moniss
(8,514 posts)in 1936 and found out Roosevelt had paralysis and was in a wheelchair they would have pressured him to drop out. Thankfully they weren't. But in this case we went from an administration and man making the decisions who lead the country back from early years of Covid and gave us the best economy for jobs and wages in more than 60 years to one plunging the country into the status of pariah state and backstabbing our allies as well as pushing the economy into recession with chaotic policies.
Thanks Clooney and yes Joe is old but he was old in 2020 too. Sorry that his age didn't meet up to your expectations and desires. Maybe some day you'll understand. But I doubt it.
iemanja
(57,216 posts)It didn't.
moniss
(8,514 posts)but about Clooney and others.
iemanja
(57,216 posts)Clooney's concern was that Biden was not up to the campaign and another term in office. That was not the case with Roosevelt, and it would not have generated the same reaction from the party, including donors like Clooney. The evidence for that is that no one objected to Roosevelt due to his paralysis.
moniss
(8,514 posts)you apparently don't know that the paralysis of Roosevelt was something kept under wraps and even the media didn't mention it or show pictures. My comment was not about the party writ large but a portion of it lead by people like Clooney. Your statement about nobody objecting to FDR because of his paralysis is nonsense because as I said few people were even aware of it.
You can consider Clooney a hero but I don't. I think he engaged in a horrible display of ageism. Therefore I made the comparison to FDR but you apparently thought, based on your response to me, that I was saying his paralysis would have affected his job performance. I did not say that and wouldn't. What was clear is that I was saying Clooney and others like him would have thought so.
iemanja
(57,216 posts)The public didn't know of Roosevelts disability, but party insiders did. Do you suppose people who had frequent contact with Roosevelt didn't know?
The historical record will reveal exactly why so many Democrats were concerned. The public certainly was, as polls indicated. Clooney had no impact on Biden's debate performance, and that was what turned the Democratic party.
moniss
(8,514 posts)about your degree and it is a well known fact about how the paralysis of FDR was kept under wraps. You attributed something to my comment that wasn't there and missed that it was about Clooney et al. By the way my experience in working at the corporate level in technical environments taught me that the best engineers and technical people never mentioned their degrees. The inadequate ones always did. It may follow through to other other areas of academia as well.
iemanja
(57,216 posts)Is a poor substitute for an argument.
I raised my degree because you accused me of not knowing a basic historical fact. FDR's condition being unknown to the public is well known. I never claimed otherwise. What I said is that there is a difference between the public and Democratic insiders who saw FDR on a regular basis. Clearly, you're very emotional about the topic. I'm sorry you feel you have so little to say that you turn to insults.
I missed nothing about your point about Clooney. You attribute his and the rest of the Democratic concerns about Biden to be based on sheer bigotry. Why you suppose so many suddenly expressed concerns for Biden after supporting him for years? His age did not change. His behavior did. You ignore the actual basis of their concerns. Remember that Obama was among those who privately suggested Biden should step aside. Do you think him a bigot as well?
Goodnight.
moniss
(8,514 posts)you feel I meant you. Once again you choose to read into something written that isn't there. The "sudden concern" you had, or Clooney for that matter was also pumped very hard by the media so it didn't "just happen" because of the debate. It was a hard, hammered meme long before the debate. Also none of the people who were "suddenly" so concerned ever bothered once to reflect on the very real fact that what some saw as "halting speech" etc. is also typical of the coping mechanism stutterers use to keep their stutter in control. The fact is that Joe Biden continued to make good policy decisions for the good of the country right until his last day in office and was hardly the feeble "losing it" man you, Clooney et al, the GQP and the media painted him to be. Whether you agree or disagree I could care less but intimating that I said FDR would have been incapable because of his paralysis is BS and plain on it's face that I was referencing Clooney et al portraying it as such.
WSHazel
(625 posts)And I would support her again if I could go back in time, and I would support her if she ran in 2028. She was and is a great candidate for President.
Clooney did the right thing by calling for Biden to step down. Sometimes the voters just blow it. America needed to learn its lesson. No amount of us saying what was going to happen was going to change its mind like experiencing a second Trump presidency first hand.
mcar
(45,542 posts)tavernier
(14,138 posts)In many ways.
grockri
(66 posts)Thanks for screwing us all over with you dumbass ego.
Martin68
(26,755 posts)In the long run better a senile Trump than a senile Biden. You'll see.
SaydiTom
(73 posts)SaydiTom
(73 posts)iemanja
(57,216 posts)It was the debate that sunk Biden.
rickyhall
(5,503 posts)annielion
(84 posts)Elon had planned to steal it if Biden ran. He only had to change one line of the computer program (as he said in Pennsylvania in October of 2024 when he said we should be hand counting paper ballots.) He changed Biden's name to Kamala's name. Per Elon, "Because it’s just too easy to hack. It’s too easy to add just one line.”
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)Last edited Mon Dec 1, 2025, 12:26 AM - Edit history (1)
And I'm amazed that (reasonably intelligent) people fall for this kind of flim-flam - over and over.
annielion
(84 posts)Do you understand computers? Do you know how to program a computer? Do you understand statistics? Have you been watching election fraud since we started having computers count our votes after the 2000 election? The whole quote from Elon was “I’m a technologist. I know a lot about computers, and the last thing I would do is trust a computer program. Because it’s just too easy to hack. It’s too easy to add just one line.”
iemanja
(57,216 posts)Explain why the polls were wrong. Explain how and why Trump gained in Democratic states and Democratic counties where the gains did him no good. Explain why virtually all the statistical analysis at the time calculated a Trump win. Your entire argument is based on the fact that you don't like the results. Given your implication that you are smarter than the other poster you are engaged in conversation with and have such an elevated knowledge of statistics, show us your statistical evidence.
annielion
(84 posts)The tabulators (the vote-counting computers) were "upgraded" by Pro V&V prior to the election. ES&S, Dominion, and Hart InterCivic make the tabulators.. It seems that the "software upgrade"' that Pro V&V did must have actually disabled the system that sends an alert if the tabulator software (computer program) is manipulated. The statistical evidence that ETA has collected demonstrates that votes were counted correctly for, say, 450 votes. At that point votes were flipped from Harris to Trump and some Harris votes were tossed, so that Trump won with a percentage outside the automatic recount. The more votes counted, the better Trump did. As ETA mentions, this is not the way humans vote. Plus it doesn't make sense to me that Trump did better in the urban areas. Mail-in ballots were not subject to this manipulation. I don't know why. Maybe it has something to do with the way the mail-in ballots are counted.
I don't know about the polls. A lot of the polls are intentionally poorly designed, that is, they are designed to elicit the answer the pollster desires. I don't pay a lot of attention to the polls now that we know Nate Silver is paid by Peter Thiel.
iemanja
(57,216 posts)"Must have" is not statistical evidence. Your superior attitude toward the other poster is not supported with evidence, either statistical or otherwise. Additionally, you addressed none of my questions. That you "don't know about polls" is not a logical or evidence-based response. That you don't like Nate Silver is irrelevant. He nor Peter Thiel conducted any polls, and Silver is far from the only aggregator. Your entire analysis is based on the fact you don't like the outcome of the election. The 2020 election deniers believed the same thing, only they levied court cases, which Democrats have not done. Do you suppose Harris didn't want to win? That no leading Democrat has claimed election maleficence should tell you something.
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)But specifically - pointing to the fact that this 'quote' by Musk doesn't come anywhere close to saying "I did this" or "Have witnessed this" or "Intend to do this" - or indeed anything along those lines.
But nonetheless, is paraded about (endlessly) - as 'evidence' that - "something happened !!"
The something that happened - is that more people voted for Trump than did for Harris. The unfortunate, flat out unvarnished truth.
annielion
(84 posts)But Elon does know computers. And he said we should be hand counting paper ballots because computers can be hacked. He said it just takes adding one line to a computer program (actually I think it takes a little more than that). I'm taking issue with people who are totally convinced our elections are safe even though our votes are counted on computers. Computers can always be hacked, according to computer experts, including Elon. And computers count the votes in the way the computer program tells them to count the votes. It seems to me when we have elections throughout the country again we need to do actual statistical audits (hand counting only an area that statistically seems to have been manipulated). And what about those tabulators that were "upgraded"? Is anyone going to check our flawed tabulators before those tabulators count our votes again?
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)And if your election office isn't doing this kind of basic 'best practices' - (and I'll bet dollars to donuts they are) - then scream bloody murder to them and your state officials. Because the problem isn't 'the machines' - it's lazy assed people not doing their job.
(But, as I said - bet they are ... Which means that the usual suspects are running around making fallacious arguments - without really knowing ... Per usual.)
moniss
(8,514 posts)about my experience some years back with Turbo-Tax software. I do all of my taxes long hand and triple check my math and entries. One year I decided to give Turbo Tax a whirl. I forget if it was on disc or a download though as far back as it was I think it was probably disc. So I fired it up and started doing input and came down to the end and printed out my tax forms.
Then I went through my triple checking process by hand. Lo and behold Turbo Tax made a math error. So I entered everything again from a clean slate and lo and behold Turbo Tax made the same math error. I tried to tell their customer service about it but you can imagine how little interest they had in wanting to know about their "glitch". Needless to say I do my finances and taxes long hand and triple checked. I even found my bank making a repeated $.01 error inserting and removing in my account. They initially weren't too interested either.
But as you and I know reliance on the output of a long computer program can be a dicey proposition. It takes me longer doing some things but I know they are correct in the end. I've seen calculators over the years that made math errors as well. I knew a marvelous professor who was a hydrogeologist and also did consulting work. All of his computer programs for his work were written from scratch by him and verified and those computers never were connected to the internet etc. for anything ever. Because when he would testify in court for a client he was able to show that absolutely correct methodology and the programming.
stopdiggin
(14,829 posts)as 'gold standard' - when testifying to veracity of same in a court of law.
Which rather deconstructs the argument for doing everything 'longhand' ?
Sorry ... But it just doesn't hold up. (or at least not to these eyes)
moniss
(8,514 posts)the idea of someone not using software other than what they themselves have written and checked. He was not using some downloaded garbage. The purpose in mentioning him was to show rejection of "other people's programming" as being accurate. Most other hydrogeologists are using widely available commercial software. He wrote his own software and exhaustively verified it.
That is the sort of thing you get asked in court by lawyers. If you want to win you can attest to your verification. If you want to be challenged and quite possibly lose you use off the shelf software. A scientist who can show you all of the verification will be a much better witness than someone who says "Well I bought it on the internet and they sent me a piece of paper saying they checked it out."
It appears to me that you don't understand that the basis of my comment was about trusting off the shelf software to be accurate in all respects. When I consider something to be critical I go long hand and triple check. I don't care what you or anybody else does. I worked for several years in a demanding engineering environment where your work had to be absolutely accurate at all times or you caught pure hell because many others were relying upon your work. Saying "oh it must be a computer glitch" was not an option nor should it have been.
iemanja
(57,216 posts)He was never going to win. And does no one care that he has late-stage cancer? Don't you think that would have affected the campaign?
milestogo
(22,289 posts)He's an actor. That is all.
dlk
(13,062 posts)And here we are…
Demsrule86
(71,463 posts)However it was too late. We needed to fight for Biden who is not now nor ever was 'demented'. You hear the speech he gave today? We let our enemies decide who would not be our candidate...and every time that happens we lose. Too late for tears, we need to move ahead and save our country for my children and yours...four our grandchildren. And I want everyone of these murderers, war criminals, grifters and kidnappers brought to justice...totally into revenge ...no mercy for those who would destroy our Republic and constitution...those who currently hunt our neighbors down in our streets like dogs...with pepper spray, tear gas, brutal physical attacks and yes with guns.
Fil1957
(441 posts)giving Merrick Garland the job of A.G and running for a second term. If not for those two unforced errors, he would have gone down in history as one of the great presidents of the United States.
Buddyzbuddy
(1,971 posts)Right or wrong, he thought it was his job to warn America. I understood it but I vehemently disagreed with his method. He thought by fronting him off in public he would convince our President that he was a weak candidate. Ok, so then what? With just a few months to go, you think the party is just going to change course in unison.
George, your heart was in the right place but your head was up your ....
PSPS
(15,145 posts)Biden so much as promised not to run again during his 2020 campaign. That would have allowed a proper primary and it's very likely we wouldn't be where we are today.
We're busy being selectively angry at history.
thought crime
(1,067 posts)It was already much too late when David Axelrod spoke up at the end of 2023. I remember a specific personal conversation at that time, where we discussed what would happen by June, if Biden really blew a debate or something - where would we be then? It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. But yeah, let’s reserve our resentment for George Clooney.
flvegan
(65,558 posts)In a matter of time, he'll be out fundraising, making the talk show rounds, donating, all the usual shit for whatever democrat candidate appears to be the frontrunner for the job next time. People will be beside themselves with joy that he's doing so.
I say this not as a Clooney fan. In hindsight, I believe he called for a dem primary as Biden didn't appear up to the task after spending time with him. A dem primary, in hindsight, might not have been such a bad idea.
And before you lose your shit, I happily voted for Harris and would have been ecstatic had she won* and changed the course of the country.
*Not saying she didn't actually win. Elon, Trump and Thiel are all fucking traitors, and should be tried and punished as such.
Buzz cook
(2,820 posts)Biden should have announced he wasn't seeking renomination after his State of the Union success.
After that it was probably too late.
NotHardly
(2,385 posts)
dweller
(27,638 posts)Go stare at a goat asshole
✌🏻
notinkansas
(1,293 posts)Ya think, George? How about you just stay out of politics? Your instincts are terrible.
sl8
(16,953 posts)From the Times article that Salon article used as a source, it appears that Clooney regards the mistake as replacing Biden with Harris, not his call for Biden to step down.
It's even clearer in these other articles (both using Clooney's CBS interview as their source):
Clooney follows up the "mistake" quote by saying he would still write his op-ed (calling for Biden to step down), even knowing what he knows now.
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/george-clooney-mistake-kamala-harris-replace-joe-biden-1236568042/
George Clooney Says It Was a ‘Mistake’ to Have Kamala Harris Replace Joe Biden in the 2024 Presidential Election: ‘She Was Given a Very Tough Ask’
When asked if he would write his NYT op-ed again if given the chance, Clooney replied, “Yes. We had a chance. I wanted there to be, as I wrote in the op-ed, a primary. Let’s battle-test this quickly and get it up and going. I think the mistake with it being Kamala is she had to run against her own record. It’s very hard to do if the point of running is to say, ‘I’m not that person.’ It’s hard to do, and so she was given a very tough task. I think it was a mistake, quite honestly. But we are where we are. We were gonna lose more House seats, they say. So I don’t know. To not do it would be to say, ‘I’m not gonna tell the truth.'”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/clooney-biden-harris-mistake-21135484.php
George Clooney says replacing Biden with Harris was a ‘mistake’
Speaking to reporter Seth Doane on “CBS Sunday Morning,” the actor who famously wrote a New York Times Op-Ed column urging Biden to remove himself from the ticket shortly before the president withdrew said Harris had to run against her own record, which is “very hard to do.”
“If the point of running is to say, ‘I’m not that person,’ you know, it’s hard to do, and so she was given a very tough task,” Clooney said in the interview broadcast Sunday, Nov. 2. “I think it was a mistake, quite honestly, but we are where we are.”
Asked if he would write the Op-Ed again knowing what he knows now, Clooney immediately answered “yes.”
camartinwv
(137 posts)Randomthought
(979 posts)Fuck you George
Akakoji
(460 posts)to sell something. Perhaps his relevance? Either way, I don't care what he has to say. Most Americans want Tobe able to eat. To not be gutted and stabbed in the back by lying, self serving Republicans who enjoy watching them suffer while just getting to tomorrow. Americans are realizing very quickly that they have been had, and the GOP will not come to their rescue. Nor do they actually care. I hope there is an election in 2028.
MustLoveBeagles
(14,117 posts) muriel_volestrangler
(105,325 posts)in the polls. It was only by the start of November that Trump had brought that back to basically neck and neck. And, given the electoral college, that was enough (he beat her by one and a half percentage points in the national election).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_opinion_polling_for_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election
To think that Joe would have done better in the election than Kamala is a counterfactual of immense size. What is the story that anyone is telling to support the counterfactual?
fujiyamasan
(1,031 posts)Honestly, I don’t care what he has to say one way or the other but I don’t really understand all this shitting on the guy that threw the largest fundraiser ever for a democratic president.
Biden was doomed after that debate. There was no recovering from that. It reenforced any negative preconceived opinions the electorate (including a majority of democrats) already had about his age. Don’t forget it was his team that requested the debates be held early.
Polls had him losing prior to the debate. It only got worse after. Congressional democrats were understandably worried about keeping their own seats.
Biden did put Harris in an impossible situation. She also faced a dilemma of how loyal she had to be to an unpopular incumbent president.
At this point, I’m not sure if Clooney is adding anything productive. Sure, he has a right to speak up but he may as well keep his money and enjoy his life. I don’t think Hollywood is helping the party in anyway.