George Clooney mocked for pushing Joe Biden to quit, paving way for Donald Trump’s landslide victory

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: George Clooney’s involvement in the 2024 presidential race hasn’t exactly left his fans gung-ho.

The 63-year-old 'Ocean’s Eleven' star faced major backlash after calling for President Joe Biden to step down just months before Donald Trump pulled off a seismic win in the presidential election.

Back in July, Clooney made headlines with an op-ed in the New York Times asking Biden to leave the race. Shortly afterward, Biden announced he was stepping aside, with Kamala Harris taking his place as the Democratic nominee.

But now with Trump as the next president-elect, Clooney’s move is being heavily criticized and mocked online.

George Clooney's push for Kamala Harris after imploring Joe Biden to step down

Despite raising millions at fundraisers for Joe Biden and throwing his full support behind the president’s reelection bid early on, George Clooney did not hold back in his New York Times article. He noted Biden’s debate against Trump in June was a clear warning sign.

He said the president had won many battles in his career "but the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time".

In his op-ed, Clooney criticized Democratic leaders for failing to recognize what he called Biden’s “declining physical and mental health” after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

He wrote that Democrat voters "collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, who we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question".

When Biden decided to step down, Clooney quickly backed Kamala Harris as the new Democratic nominee — praising Biden’s “true leadership” in a statement to CNN and calling Harris' campaign a “historic quest".

His support didn’t end there—he even showed up in a campaign ad this month, urging men to “think about how voting for Trump will affect the women in their lives". The ad was produced by the left-leaning Vote Common Good and it advised men that they could always “lie to their Trump-supporting friends about how they voted".

George Clooney faces social media backlash after Kamala Harris loses 2024 race

Social media hasn’t been kind to George Clooney after Kamala Harris' defeat in the 2024 presidential race. Many were quick to point out that he might have had a hand in helping Donald Trump’s win, even if unintentionally.

“Has anyone noticed how George Clooney, one of the instigators of [driving] Biden out, has been quiet?” someone posted on X.

Another chimed in, “Anybody talk to George Clooney yet?”

"Wondering how wunderkinds like #GeorgeClooney and others feel now that they pushed #Biden out of the running. ...just sayin'," someone else wrote.

"Trump should not forget to thank the Hollywood celebrities. Especially George Clooney," read a comment.

"I would like to take a moment to thank George Clooney for shoving the most incompetent candidate down America’s throat to ensure a Trump victory. #MAGA," another offered.

Do celebrity endorsements even help?

Of course, George Clooney is not the first Hollywood star to jump into politics and it’s an area that has always been a bit controversial.

NYU professor Laurence F Maslon shared his thoughts with The Guardian. "I think endorsements have probably always done more for the celebrity than the person being endorsed," he told the outlet.

Maslon added, "It's a way to hitch your star to somebody who seems to be good for you, and maybe there's a certain kind of reflected glory in that. There's probably not a Republican candidate for any office in the last 20 years who didn't append the word liberal before the word Hollywood when speaking about it...People like George Clooney and Robert De Niro, I mean, who cares, frankly?"

Margaretha Bentley, a professor from Arizona State University, agreed that celebrity endorsements don’t usually sway voters directly.

"In the academic literature, research has shown that, while celebrity endorsements can increase civic engagement and voter registrations, it has not proven to have a direct impact on how people make their voting decisions," she said.

"Voters may do more research after a celebrity endorses, but they will vote based on their own values and not necessarily the values of the celebrity endorser."

So while Clooney’s op-ed might’ve generated some buzz, it may not have been the game-changer he hoped for.

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