George Clooney is facing a backlash from demoralized Democrats for demanding that Joe Biden step down from the White House race.
The Ocean’s Eleven star urged Biden to quit in July, writing in the New York Times: “We are not going to win in November with this president.”
Clooney then threw his star power behind Kamala Harris’ doomed run for the top job.
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Now embittered Democrats have blasted the 63-year-old actor for interfering in the botched 2024 presidential election campaign as the shattered party seeks explanations for how it all went so wrong.
“Thank you George Clooney,” wrote journalist Joshua Hartley on X, with a pinned link to the Times op-ed titled, “George Clooney: I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.”
Alongside a Batman movie meme, political activists altNOAA wrote: Someone bring me George Clooney. We need to have a...talk.”
“Trump should not forget to thank the Hollywood celebrities. Especially George Clooney,” added another user on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Since I’m in a deep depression and feel like lashing out at someone, what’s the plan now George Clooney?” read a post, according to the Daily Mail, while another added, “It’s all George Clooney’s fault!”
While some commentators blame Biden for not getting out of the contest earlier, others believe he should never have dropped out at all and he would have retained the white working-class voters who appear to have deserted his successor.
Trump made no secret of his disdain for the star, posting on Truth Social before the election: “So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act.
“He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are. What does Clooney know about anything?… Clooney should get out of politics and go back to television. Movies never really worked for him!!!”
One month before turning on Biden, Clooney had co-hosted a Hollywood event that raised $28 million for his campaign.
“This is about age. Nothing more,” Clooney said in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “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 that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”
New York University Professor Laurence F. Maslon questioned the role of celebrity endorsements in politics, telling the Guardian: “I think endorsements have probably always done more for the celebrity than the person being endorsed.”
He added: “It‘s a way to hitch your star to somebody who seems to be good for you, and maybe there’s a certain kind of reflected glory in that. There’s probably not a Republican candidate for any office in the last 20 years who didn’t append the word liberal before the word Hollywood when speaking about it... People like George Clooney and Robert De Niro, I mean, who cares, frankly?”
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