According to a Politico report, former President Barack Obama was given advance notice that George Clooney was going to write an op-ed for the New York Times calling for Biden to step aside.
And Obama didn’t try to stop it.
From Politico:
THE EX-PRESIDENT: Before Hollywood icon and Democratic donor GEORGE CLOONEY published his buzzy and brutal NYT op-ed yesterday calling on Biden to step aide as the nominee, we’re told he reached out to former President BARACK OBAMA to give him a heads-up. The two men, who are friendly, both attended the L.A. fundraiser Clooney referenced in his piece, where the actor said he’d beheld a diminished Biden and that the leader he interacted with was “the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn’t object to it, we’re told from people familiar with their exchange. The lack of pushback is an eye-popping revelation given that the former president was one of the first big voices defending Biden following his abysmal debate performance (while many of his former aides have been some of the incumbent’s biggest critics).
Clooney’s op-ed was brutally honest about Biden’s chances in November and included the following lines that were widely circulated in the media:
“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.”
“The dam has broken. We can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November, or we can speak the truth.”
“Top Democrats — CHUCK SCHUMER, HAKEEM JEFFRIES, NANCY PELOSI — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.”
Clooney’s op-ed comes just three weeks after he helped Biden raise millions of dollars at a fundraiser for his re-election bid.
More over at Politico:
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Politico: “While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn’t object to it, we’re told from people familiar with their exchange.” https://t.co/DEZlfoSSwy
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) July 11, 2024
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