George Clooney praises ‘extraordinary’ Biden and discusses NY Times essay that urged president to quit

George Clooney praised President Biden for withdrawing his re-election bid after the actor encouraged him to do so in a New York Times article earlier this summer.

During an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, the late-night comedian raved about Clooney writing the comment, while the actor insisted that Biden was the one who should be celebrated for his sacrifice.

“The bottom line is that it’s very difficult to give up power, and President Biden has done something truly extraordinary. Truly extraordinary,” Clooney told Kimmel on Tuesday night.

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During Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC late-night show on Tuesday, actor George Clooney called President Biden’s decision to abandon his candidacy for re-election “truly extraordinary.” (Anna Moneymaker / Employee | )

In an op-ed for the New York Times published in July, Clooney called on Biden to withdraw his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, arguing that his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump proved that Biden was too old to win a second term.

“It’s about age. That’s all. But it’s also not something that can be reversed. We’re not going to win in November with this president,” the actor said. In the article, he also explained that he noticed Biden’s weakness during a fundraiser for his campaign in Hollywood in June.

“It’s devastating to say this, but the Joe Biden I was with at the fundraiser three weeks ago 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 saw at the debate,” Clooney wrote.

At the end of July, the president finally announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor at the top of the Democratic candidate list.

During his show Tuesday night, Kimmel said Clooney’s essay was the catalyst for the Democratic Party’s decision to replace Biden, saying it “changed the world.”

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President Biden withdrew his candidacy for re-election at the end of July and proposed Vice President Harris as his successor. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I mean, it had a huge impact on the presidential election, right?” Kimmel asked, though his guest insisted they should save the praise for Biden’s sacrifice. “Honestly, I really think that’s what should really be focused on,” Clooney said of Biden’s relinquishing of power.

Nevertheless, Kimmel praised the “Ocean’s Eleven” star: “You hit hard and thank God you hit the ball out because that could have been very, very bad.”

“It could still go wrong,” Clooney replied, although Kimmel was not pessimistic.

“I mean, I don’t know. Things seem to be going pretty well right now,” the comedian replied, alluding to the fact that Harris had done better in the polls against Trump than against Biden before he was replaced.

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Clooney praised Biden’s decision to drop out of the race earlier this month, telling the Washington Post: “The person who should be applauded is the president who has done the most selfless thing anyone has done since George Washington.”