Actor George Clooney calls on Biden to withdraw from US presidential race

Actor George Clooney has called on U.S. President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, just weeks after he helped raise S$30 million to support the president for his re-election campaign.

Clooney, one of Biden's biggest advocates and a Democratic Party supporter, expressed his concerns about Biden's ability to win the re-election against former President Donald Trump in an opinion piece published by the New York Times.

Could not win against passage of time

"I love Joe Biden," Clooney said, adding that he believed in the president and his character and morals.

However, Biden, who will turn 82 this November, could not win against the passage of time, Clooney averred.

"The one battle [Biden] cannot win is the fight against time."

At 81, Biden is the oldest U.S. president to hold the office.

"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," Clooney said.

"The weakest performance"

Biden and Trump squared off for their first presidential debate on Jun. 27, 2024.

Following the debate, the Financial Times reported that a post-debate poll had turned sharply towards Trump.

Reuters described Biden's performance in debate as "shaky" and "halting" while CNN dubbed it as "the weakest performance" in the history of televised presidential debates.

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"We've opted to ignore every warning sign"

"We're all terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we've opted to ignore every warning sign," Clooney said.

The actor, who headlined fundraisers for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in past elections, called on key Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to ask Biden to "voluntarily step aside".

"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," said Clooney.

Approval rating

An approval rating published by Reuters shows that 57 per cent of Americans disapprove of Biden.

Many Democrats expressed concerns that the 81-year-old President's age might pose a stumbling block to voters.

Internally, many in Biden's party disapproved of his support for Israel in the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, which has resulted in over 38,000 dead according to local authorities.

Staying in the race

A campaign spokesperson told NBC News that Biden is staying in the race for the top job.

Commenting on his debate performance, Biden said, as quoted by Reuters; "I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious".

"I don't walk as easy as I used to, I don't speak as smoothly as I used to, I don't debate as well as I used to... [but] I would not be running again if I didn't believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high."

He assured that he and his party would do "everything possible" to take back the House in the November election.

Top image via @clooneyfoundationforjustice/Instagram and Joe Biden/Facebook.