George Clooney is reflecting on what he calls the Democrats’ “mistake” during the 2024 presidential election.
In a recent interview on “CBS Sunday Morning,” the Hollywood actor and “Jay Kelly” star revisited the criticism he made last year when he urged Democrats to replace Joe Biden as their nominee. Clooney said he still believes the party mishandled the transition that led to Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to President Donald Trump.
“I wanted there to be, as I wrote in the op-ed, a primary,” Clooney said. “‘Let’s battle test this quickly and get it up and going.’ I think the mistake with it being Kamala is that she had to run against her own record. If the point of running is to say, ‘I’m not that person,’ it’s hard to do. And so she was given a very tough task.”
He added, “I think it was a mistake, quite honestly. But we are where we are.”
In his July 2024 New York Times essay, Clooney revealed that he had personally witnessed signs of Biden’s cognitive decline at a private fundraiser and warned Democrats that they were “not going to win in November with this president.” The actor suggested that if Biden stepped down, several prominent Democrats should compete openly for the nomination.
“Let’s hear from Wes Moore and Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear and J.B. Pritzker and others,” Clooney wrote at the time. “Let’s agree that the candidates not attack one another but, in the short time we have, focus on what will make this country soar. Then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out.”
Biden eventually exited the race later that month. But after endorsing Harris as his successor, the Democratic Party swiftly united behind her. Within 24 hours, Harris had locked up enough delegate support to become the official nominee.
Clooney also addressed Hunter Biden’s harsh criticism of him. The president’s son blasted Clooney’s op-ed in an expletive-filled interview on “Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan,” accusing the actor of undermining his father’s decades of public service. “What right do you have to step on a man who’s given 52 years of his … life to the service of this country?” Hunter Biden said.
Clooney pushed back, saying he could “spend a lot of time debunking” Hunter’s claims, including the accusation that Barack Obama had encouraged him to write the piece. “Obama didn’t put me up to it,” he said. “But I don’t think looking backwards like that is helpful to anyone, particularly to him. I don’t think it’s helpful for the Democratic Party.”
The “Ocean’s Eleven” star has stood by his decision to publish the op-ed, calling it his “civic duty.” In April, he told CNN that speaking out felt like a responsibility, not a betrayal.
Clooney also offered perspective on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in February after Trump’s victory. “He gets upset, and I (tell him), listen, you shake the guy’s hand, you say, ‘Good game, I’ll get you next time,’” Clooney said of his son’s reaction to losing at chess. “You’ve got to live by those rules, which is, ‘Alright, good. Good for you. Go. I hope you do well, because our country needs it, and then we’ll meet you in three-and-a-half years and see where we go next.’”