George Clooney claps back at Donald Trump as verbal spat continues
By Cindy Yin
George Clooney has hit back at Donald Trump’s criticisms of him after the US president labelled the actor a “second-rate movie ‘star’” on social media.
In an interview with American television program CBS Mornings this week, the Academy Award-winning actor said: “I don’t care. I’ve known Donald Trump for a long time. My job is not to please the president of the United States. My job is to try and tell the truth when I can and when I have the opportunity. I am well aware of the idea that people will not like that.
George Clooney hit back at Donald Trump’s jabs, saying: “My job is not to please the president of the United States.” Credit: Invision/AP
“People will criticise that. Elon Musk has weighed in [about me]. That is their right. It’s my right to say the other side.”
The spat began after Clooney made remarks about the democratic role of the media on the March 23 episode of CBS’ 60 Minutes during an interview to promote the stage version of his and Grant Heslov’s 2005 film, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Based on real-life events, Good Night, and Good Luck is set at the height of the “red scare” in the 1950s. In the stage version, Clooney plays veteran CBS journalist Edward Murrow, who took on influential US senator Joseph McCarthy, notorious for leading a crusade to weed out alleged communists in the government and other institutions.
Many of the falsely accused were blacklisted and lost their jobs. McCarthy often targeted journalists, academics and the Hollywood movie industry.
The real Edward Murrow.Credit: AFR
“When the other three estates fail, when the judiciary and the executive and the legislative branches fail us, the fourth estate has to succeed,” Clooney told 60 Minutes.
“Governments don’t like the freedom of the press. They never have,” Clooney said. “And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you’re on. They don’t like the press.”
In the 60 Minutes episode, Clooney drew a through line between the play and the film and the challenges faced by reporters today – comments that clearly did not go down well.
In response, the US president made a pointed dig at Clooney on Truth Social, the Trump-owned social media platform.
US President Donald Trump lashed out at George Clooney on social media.Credit: Truth Social
“Why would the now highly discredited 60 Minutes be doing a total ‘puff piece’ on George Clooney, a second-rate movie ‘star’ and failed political pundit,” Trump said. “… And now George Clooney again? His press agent should be making a fortune!”
Clooney’s allusions to the Trump administration clamping down on press freedom came a week before Good Night, and Good Luck premiered on Broadway on April 3.
Well versed in the subject, Clooney majored in journalism at university, and his father, Nick, was a broadcast journalist for many years.
In the 60 Minutes piece, Clooney noted Trump’s $US10 billion ($15 billion) lawsuit – a claim he doubled to $US20 billion after returning to office earlier this year. Trump is suing CBS over an October 60 Minutes episode featuring then-US vice president Kamala Harris, and claimed they edited an interview to present her in a more flattering light, which he argued was a form of voter interference ahead of the US election.
Clooney also pointed to Trump’s December settlement with the US ABC network over comments about him made on one of its shows.
George Clooney in September 2005, ahead of the release of his movie, Good Night, and Good Luck.Credit: AP
ABC agreed to pay $US15 million towards Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air claim that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
“ABC has just settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration. And CBS News is in the process,” Clooney said. “We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine or use corporations – to make journalists smaller.”
As part of his action, Trump demanded a transcript of the raw interview, which was then released by the network once Trump regained office. He has called repeatedly for the broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, to punish CBS.
Following escalating pressure on the network, Bill Owens, executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned on Wednesday (local time), claiming a loss of journalistic independence.
He said he “would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it” nor allowed to make “independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes”, CNN reported, citing Owens’ memo to staff.
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