George Clooney says Biden not the man he was in 2020, should drop out

LOS ANGELES — Actor George Clooney, a major Hollywood fundraiser for Democrats, said on Wednesday that US President Joe Biden is no longer the same person who won the White House in 2020 and said he should drop his bid for re-election.

Clooney co-hosted a star-studded fundraiser for Biden in downtown Los Angeles in June, about two weeks before the 81-year-old president struggled through a debate with Republican former President Donald Trump.

"It's devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe 'b F-ing deal' Biden of 2010," Clooney wrote in the New York Times. "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," Clooney added.

A subsequent interview with ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos "only reinforced what we saw the week before," Clooney said.

The actor, who described himself as a lifelong Democrat, wrote: "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," Clooney wrote. "Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly."

Biden said he had a "bad night" at the debate and has vowed to stay in the presidential race.

Clooney expressed admiration for Biden and said he considered him a friend.

"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," Clooney said.

"But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time." — Reuters