2024-07-11 17:17:36
After US President Joe Biden was increasingly called upon to refrain from running again, US actor George Clooney has now also turned away from him. Biden has thus lost an important supporter.
Almost two weeks ago, incumbent US President Joe Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump had a debate on TV. Biden’s health seemed so worrying that public doubts arose as to whether he was suitable as a candidate for the presidential election.
Many people then called for him to give up his candidacy, including George Clooney, who until a few days ago was considered a big supporter of Biden. “I love Joe Biden, but we need a new candidate,” the actor wrote in an article for the New York Times and made a gloomy prediction: “We will not win any more elections with him.”
Three weeks ago, he met the president at a fundraiser, where he was no longer “the Joe Biden of 2010,” not “even the Joe Biden of 2020.” “He was the same man we all saw at the debate,” Clooney said critically.
A bitter pill for Biden, because the 63-year-old film star, who describes himself as a “lifelong Democrat,” has been one of the party’s most prominent and popular supporters in recent years. The Democrats have benefited financially from Clooney in particular, as he has brought them millions in donations – and has done so for almost 20 years.
Clooney first began collecting campaign donations in 2004, when his father, Nick Clooney, ran for the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives elections in the state of Kentucky, but lost.
In 2008, Clooney also drummed up support for Barack Obama in his election campaign. The popular Hollywood star also did this before Obama’s re-election in 2012, raising millions of dollars for the election campaign with charity events. Hillary Clinton was also able to count on Clooney’s support in 2016, and he also brought her astronomical donations. However, she had to admit defeat to Donald Trump.
Clooney was just as involved in Biden’s election campaign and played an important role. In June, more than $30 million was raised with the help of several Hollywood greats, including Clooney. This support is now being withdrawn, as the director has clearly demanded that Biden not run again.
At the beginning of June, a conflict had already arisen between Biden and Clooney over the Gaza war. Biden had sharply criticized the fact that the International Criminal Court had issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Joav Galant and the leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas. In his opinion, there is “no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” he said in a statement.
Clooney then complained to the White House, as his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, was also involved in the arrest warrants. The 46-year-old has not yet taken a position on Biden’s potential withdrawal from the candidacy.