George Clooney is for the first time publicly addressing the preciptious, controversial call he made for Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race in a July New York Times op-ed. “The person who should be applauded is the president, who has done the most selfless thing a president has done since George Washington,” Variety reports the Oscar winner saying during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday. “It’s very hard to let go of power—we know that, we’ve seen it all over the world—and for someone to say ‘I think there’s a better path forward,’ all the credit goes to him.” In his Times piece, which addressed Biden’s then-faltering performance in the 2024 campaign and the broader Democratic malaise it embodied, Clooney called the president a “hero” but said he was not the Joe “big F-ing deal” Biden of 2010.” The candid plea was met with shock, support and backlash from across the political spectrum. Clooney has since come out in support of Kamala Harris.