George Clooney spills the beans on why he called on Biden to bow out of 2024 race: 'It was a civic duty'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Hollywood royalty George Clooney will not play nice when it comes to the future of American democracy.

The Oscar-winning actor sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper for a candid conversation about why he called on former president Joe Biden to step aside from the 2024 presidential election. 

When Tapper brought up Clooney’s explosive July 2024 New York Times op-ed, Clooney didn’t flinch. When Tapper asked whether it was to go public, the 63-year-old silver fox shrugged it off. “Well, I don’t know if it was brave. It was a civic duty," he responded.

Clooney said it became necessary to speak out after watching Democrats close ranks around a version of Biden that he just didn’t recognize anymore.

George Clooney gets real about Joe Biden’s decline 

George Clooney had seen the former president up close at a star-studded June fundraiser that raked in a jaw-dropping $30 million—but what he saw backstage was enough to shake him, the New York Post reported.

“When I saw people on my side of the street, not telling the truth, I thought that was time,” he said.

“[T]he one battle he cannot win is the fight against time,” Clooney wrote in his op-ed. “None of us can.”

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser 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," he continued.

That disastrous June 27 debate saw Biden appear confused and at times freeze onstage.

“This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed,” Clooney wrote. “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.”

He added, “This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.” 

Joe Biden's team tried to stop the op-ed

George Clooney, a long-time Democratic darling and one of the party’s most generous donors, wasn't having any of the gaslighting either. “Stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw,” he demanded.

The Biden team knew the op-ed was coming. According to reports, they were tipped off before publication and scrambled behind the scenes to stop it. But Clooney wouldn’t budge. Just weeks after the op-ed dropped, Biden made the bombshell announcement that he was dropping out of the race — and Clooney gave him his flowers. 

“Saving democracy once again,” the actor said, praising Biden for stepping aside.

Then came the glowing tribute at the Venice Film Festival. Clooney called Biden the “most selfless” president since George Washington.

“What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who, it’s very hard to let go of power — we know that, we’ve seen it all over the world — and for someone to say I think there’s a better path forward, all the credit goes to him,” Clooney said. “And that’s really the truth … I’m just very proud of where we are in the state of the world right now.”

George Clooney defends taking a stand

Naturally, Jake Tapper had to ask if people were still mad at George Clooney for writing that op-ed.

“Some people, sure,” he replied. “It’s okay.”

“You know, listen, the idea of freedom of speech, you know, the specific idea of it is, you know — you can’t demand freedom of speech and then say, but don’t say bad things about me,” Clooney said. “Well, that’s the deal.” 

“You have to take your stand if you believe in it,” he added. “Take a stand, stand for it, and then deal with the consequences. That’s the rules.”

Clooney reminded everyone of his long history of speaking truth to power. “They criticized me for my stance against the war 20 years ago, people picketed my movies, and they put me on a deck of cards — I have to take that, that’s fair. I’m OK with that, I’m OK with criticism for where I stand," he said.

“I defend their right to criticize me as much as I defend my right to criticize them," the Hollywood legend added.