George Clooney urges Democrats to rethink campaign strategy

George Clooney has actively supported the Democratic Party for years, both financially and through public statements. He regularly expresses support for democratic values and leaders, including Joe Biden. However, in July 2024, he called for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced. But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed - he wrote in a column for "The New York Times".

A few days later, under increasing pressure from voters, Joe Biden decided not to seek reelection, and Kamala Harris took his place. However, she was unable to win against Donald Trump.

The topic of the presidential elections in the USA and Kamala Harris's defeat was revisited in the actor's interview with CNN. Clooney emphasized that the Democrats need to learn from the mistakes made in the last elections, in which they lost control of the Senate to the Republicans.

"How they were running was that it was a failed administration," Clooney said. "You can’t run against yourself, right? And that’s why that was a difficult campaign. It’s hard to run against yourself and say, 'Well, I disagree with all this.'"

Clooney suggested that instead of nominating Harris as Biden's successor, there should have been an open fight for the Democratic nomination. Although he believes Harris could have won the primaries, he also pointed to several other potential leaders.

He said that Democrats have some good governors, naming Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. "Who I think is levitating above that is Wes Moore. He’s smart. He ran a hedge fund — the Robin Hood Foundation. He’s a proper leader. (...) It’s our job now to put together a proper team to stand up because [Democrats are] right now polling very poorly," he emphasized.

Did the actor's words hurt Biden? Observers noted that he did not appear at the premiere of the play "Good Night and Good Luck" in which Clooney was involved.

"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. Well, that’s the deal," Clooney said on CNN.