OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Actor George Clooney is reportedly “furious” with Barack Obama and has accused the 44th president of using him as a “patsy” in a covert effort to push President Biden out of office this past summer.
“George is furious with Obama for disappearing after the election disaster and leaving him holding the bag for pushing the plan with his Hollywood pals,” an unnamed entertainment industry source close to the A-list actor told RadarOnline.
“George feels duped and vows he’s not going to be anyone’s political water boy anymore,” another source told the outlet.
Shortly after leading a Hollywood fundraiser for Biden’s re-election campaign, Clooney emerged as a significant figure in the political arena by calling for the president to step down in an op-ed. “I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee,” Clooney wrote.
The devastating op-ed was published not long after Biden’s disastrous debate performance against then-former President Donald Trump in late June.
Clooney stated that as a “lifelong Democrat,” he loved Biden and believes that he has done an excellent job in office.
“But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser 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 witnessed at the debate,” Clooney wrote.
“Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign,” Clooney continued.
“The George Stephanopoulos interview only reinforced what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, who we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question,” he added.
Ultimately, Biden did step aside and not long afterward, reports began to surface that Obama, in conjunction with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), orchestrated a plot to remove him.
Obama, a longtime friend of Clooney, reportedly “approved” the article to put pressure on his former running mate. The former president allegedly hoped that criticism from prominent Hollywood actors — who had been major contributors to Biden’s campaign funding — would signal that fundraising support was waning and prompt Biden to reconsider his re-election bid.
According to multiple reports from various outlets and confirmed by statements from Nancy Pelosi, the organizers of the effort had aimed for an “open primary process” to select a new Democratic Party nominee during the party’s convention in August. Obama was reportedly “furious” with President Biden’s decision to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. Obama had planned to back Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) at the convention, held in his hometown of Chicago, reports had said.
Biden’s decision to endorse Harris was described as a “f**k you” to Biden and Pelosi for forcing him out, according to a report from the New York Post citing sources close to the Biden family.
Following Harris’ significant loss, Clooney believes he has become a scapegoat. “George feels he stepped up and took a bullet for the team, and now everyone’s complaining about the bloodbath,” another source told RadarOnline.
“Lots of celebrities, like Beyoncé, were on the campaign trail pumping up Kamala, but George became the face of the Hollywood liberals by directly calling for Biden to end his campaign and throwing the whole process into chaos.”
“He thinks Obama should come forward and say that George did the right thing and it isn’t his fault that it didn’t work out,” the source continued. “But he doesn’t expect that will be forthcoming. and it’s left George feeling like a patsy.”
