George Clooney breaks silence on Biden as Hollywood backs Harris

George Clooney spoke out for the first time since his brutal take down of Joe Biden, as the A-list actor and his celebrity pals fall in line behind Kamala Harris.

George Clooney broke his silence on Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 election, after his brutal evisceration of the president opened the floodgates to his ouster.

The Hollywood A-lister said Biden is “saving democracy once again” by making way for Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Donald Trump in November.

Clooney waited two days before commenting on Biden’s decision, despite the actor’s op-ed in The New York Times widely seen as the signal for the Democratic Party establishment to turn on the president’s candidacy.

US actor George Clooney, US President Joe Biden, Actor Julia Roberts and former US President Barack Obama at a campaign fundraiser. Picture: Supplied

“President Biden has shown what true leadership is,” Clooney said in a statement to CNN.

Clooney endorsed Harris to succeed Biden on the Democratic Party ticket. 

“We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest,” he said.

It comes as California delegates threw their support behind Harris, giving the vice president enough support to secure the party’s nomination for the presidential election.

Clooney and his Hollywood pals fell in line behind Harris just weeks after holding a star-studded fundraiser for Biden.

In a statement to CNN, actor/Democratic fundraiser George Clooney endorses VP Kamala Harris:

“President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again. We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.”

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 23, 2024

In his NYT op-ed, Clooney said the Biden the world saw on the debate stage with Trump was the same Biden they saw at the fundraiser.

“We are not going to win in November with this president,” Clooney predicted. “On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate.”

Washington DC insiders went into a frenzy after it emerged Clooney consulted with Barack Obama before publishing his calls for Biden to step down. The Oscar-winner reached out to Mr Obama, who Politico reported did not object to Clooney publishing his brutal evisceration of Mr Biden.

The Biden campaign believed that Mr Obama was the mastermind of the coup to replace Biden with Harris, with the president’s media ally Joe Scarborough saying it was believed Obama was “quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this”.

The Hollywood set to quickly praise Biden and Back Harris included actor Robert DeNiro, comedian Jon Stewart, singer John Legend and director Ken Burns, among many others.

Kamala Harris gives her first speech at the White House as the presumptive nominee to replace Joe Biden. Picture: AFP

“There is nothing more important for our country than defeating Donald Trump at the ballot box,” said De Niro, an adamant Trump critic.

Barbra Streisand praised Biden as someone who “would go down in history as a man who accomplished significant achievements in his four-year term”.

Star Wars actor Mark Hamil said Biden helped restore “honesty, dignity & integrity to the office after four years of lies, crime, scandal & chaos”.

Singer Charli XCX turned her hopes to vice president Harris, saying “Kamala IS brat”, a reference to her album and social media trend.

Originally published as George Clooney breaks silence on Biden as Hollywood backs Harris