George Clooney Praises Biden’s ‘Selfless’ Choice to ‘Let Go of Power’ Following the Actor Calling For Him to Step Aside | Video

George Clooney addressed his July op-ed in the New York Times publicly for the first time while promoting his newest film “Wolfs” at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday. Asked if the op-ed had any impact on President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw his candidacy ahead of the 2024 election, Clooney responded, “The person who should be applauded is the president, who did the most selfless thing that anybody’s done since George Washington, and that’s true.”

“And so anybody, all the machinations that got us there, none of that’s going to be remembered, and it shouldn’t be,” Clooney argued. “What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who — you know, it’s very hard to let go of power. We know that, we’ve seen it all around the world. And for someone to say, ‘I think there’s a better way forward,’ that’s, all the credit goes to him.”

Clooney’s July 10 op-ed made it clear that the actor did not believe Biden could have won the 2024 election if he remained in the race.

“The one battle he cannot win is the fight against time,” Clooney wrote. “None of us can. 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 wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

The actor also said that he’d had private conversations with senators, members of Congress and governors who all agreed with him, “irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”

“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 continued.

Watch Clooney’s exchange with members of the press at the Venice Film Festival in the video from The Hollywood Reporter above.

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