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Actor George Clooney gave former President Barack Obama advance notice of his New York Times op-ed that bluntly called on President Joe Biden to step aside after his disastrous debate performance.
And while Obama didn’t encourage Clooney or share any notes on what to say, he didn’t have any objections to it, Politico reported.
In the damning op-ed, Clooney wrote on Wednesday that “the one battle” Biden “cannot win is the fight against time,” as he pushed Democratic leaders to face the music and stop telling the public everything is fine.
Just weeks ago, Clooney headlined a Los Angeles fundraiser — which Obama attended — that pulled in nearly $30 million for the president. The movie star insisted that Biden’s demeanor at that event was consistent with his performance at the June 27 debate against Donald Trump, where the president appeared confused and frail, making several gaffes and appearing to lose his train of thought at multiple points.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” he added. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Obama was one of the first major figures in the party to come out and support Biden following his disastrous debate performance. But many of his former aides, including David Axelrod, have been critical of a re-election bid, insisting Biden no longer has what it takes to defeat Trump.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday, where she gave a carefully worded response to her take on Biden’s political future, refusing to say whether she thinks the president should remain at the top of the ticket. Biden has made clear that he intends to stay in the race.
“It’s up to the president to [decide] if he’s going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short,” she said.
Pelosi reportedly made Democratic leaders aware of what she was planning to say before her Morning Joe appearance, according to Politico.
The former House speaker has also suggested in private conversations that Biden can’t win this fall and that he should step aside, advising vulnerable lawmakers to do what they need to do to secure their re-election in swing seats.
But the former speaker has told these members to hold off until the end of the ongoing NATO summit to make their statements. A number of members have begun drafting statements of what they want to say, the outlet reported.
Pelosi has told members who aren’t in vulnerable seats to share their concerns directly with the White House or the campaign to limit public disagreements. Some have reportedly tried and failed to get in touch with Biden.
But a Pelosi spokesperson rejected the notion that she’s part of any effort to push Biden out of the race in a statement on Wednesday.
“Publicly and privately, Speaker Pelosi has acknowledged the concerns that many have expressed in recent days but has repeatedly said that she fully supports whatever President Biden decides to do,” a spokesperson told Politico.
Biden aides are heading to Congress on Thursday afternoon to conduct some damage control with lawmakers who think he’s not up to the task. The president is also set to hold a 5:30 p.m. press conference.
