George Clooney praises ‘selfless’ Joe Biden for dropping out of White House race

George Clooney said yesterday that all credit should go to President Joe Biden for dropping out of the race for the White House.

Clooney, whose New York Times op-ed appeared to be one of the reasons Biden dropped out of the race, said: “The one who should be commended is the president, who did the most selfless thing anyone has done since George Washington, and that’s true.

‘No one will remember any of the machinations that got us there. And they shouldn’t.

‘What needs to be remembered is the selfless act. It is very difficult to let go of power, we have seen it all over the world.

“If someone says, ‘I think there’s a better way forward’ – then all the credit goes to them. Everything else will be forgotten.” He added: “I’m very proud of where we are in the world now, which a lot of people are surprised about, and I think we’re very excited about the future.”

George Clooney (pictured at the Venice Film Festival) said: ‘The one who should be praised is the president, who has done the most selfless thing since George Washington’

Current US President Joe Biden. Clooney’s op-ed in the New York Times called on President Biden to step aside for a new nominee. It appeared to be one of the triggers that caused Biden to drop out of the race

In the op-ed, titled I love Joe Biden but we need a new nominee, he wrote: “I am a lifelong Democrat; I make no apologies for that. I am proud of what my party represents and what it stands for. As part of my participation in the democratic process and in support of my chosen nominee, I have led some of the largest fundraisers in the history of my party. Barack Obama in 2012. Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Biden in 2020. Last month, I co-hosted the largest fundraiser ever in support of a Democratic candidate, for the re-election of President Biden. I say all of this only to express how much I believe in this process and how profound I think this moment is.

I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president, and as a president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. He has won many of the battles he has fought over the last four years.

“But the one battle he cannot win is against time. None of us can win that. It’s heartbreaking to say, 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 guy we all saw at the debate.”