Hollywood actor George Clooney praised President Joe Biden Sunday for his “selfless” act of dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival in northern Italy, Clooney was asked about his July New York Times op-ed in which he urged President Joe Biden to bow out of the election after his disastrous debate performance.
“The person who should be applauded is the president who did the most selfless thing that anyone has done since George Washington, and that’s true” said Clooney, which drew enthusiastic applause from Brad Pitt, who shared the platform with Clooney and co-stars with him in the film Wolfs.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt are seen at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 01, 2024 in Italy. (Photo by Ernesto Ruscio/Getty)
It was not clear to which “selfless” act of America’s first president the actor was referring.
“So, all the machinations that got us there, none of that’s going to be remembered. And it shouldn’t be,” said Clooney, one of the Democratic Party’s leading fundraisers, in reference to alleged pressure applied to the president to force him to step aside.
“What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who, you know, it’s very hard to let go of power, we know that, we’ve seen that all around the world,” he said.
“For someone to say I think there’s a better way forward, all the credit goes to him,” Clooney added.
“And that’s really the truth and all the rest will be long gone and forgotten,” he said. “And so I’m just very proud of where we are in the state of the world right now. And I think we’re all very excited for the future.”