It was a mistake to replace Biden with Harris: Clooney
Hollywood actor George Clooney said that it was a mistake to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential elections.
The outspoken Democrat also said he was “saddened” by the “real attack” on US institutions that “keep truth in power.”
In a New York Times opinion piece, Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race and argued that the party should choose a new candidate at its convention in August 2024, saying the process would be “messy” but would “wake up” voters in the party’s favor.
Asked if he would write it again, he told US program CBS News Sunday Morning: “Yes, we had a chance. As I wrote in the column, I wanted there to be a primary.”
“Let’s test that quickly and get to work. I think the mistake of being Kamala was that she had to run against her own record, and if the point of running is to say, ‘I’m not that person,’ that’s hard to do,” she said.
“And so he was given a very difficult task. I think it was a mistake, to be honest.”
“But we’re where we are. They say we’re going to lose more seats.”
“Not to do this would be saying, ‘I’m not going to tell the truth.'”
Biden ended his reelection bid in July 2024 after mounting pressure to resign following a faltering debate with Republican rival Donald Trump a month ago.
His son Hunter Biden accused Clooney of exaggerating the former president’s vulnerability.
“I could spend a lot of time refuting a lot of the things he said because a lot of the things he said were outright lies,” Clooney said.
Referring to the importance of a free press, Clooney said: “I want our government to reflect us in the best light and to step in when necessary, and I am watching a real attack on all basic institutions and I regret it.
“And I’ve seen that pendulum swing so many times. People will talk about this being the worst time in the country for a lot of people, and that’s a bad thing,” he said.
However, he pointed out that 1968 was also quite difficult.
“Every city in the United States was burning. They killed Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. The Tet Offensive. The Vietnam War was still going on. The capital was surrounded by armed guards to protect them,” he said.
“We’ve faced difficult situations. We’ve had a civil war. We’ll get through this, but it makes me sad and I think we need to protect the institutions that keep truth in power.”
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
