OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Jake Tapper of CNN reflected on a statement from the Biden campaign asserting that President Biden has more stamina than George Clooney, which came in response to an op-ed penned by the actor this week.
In his piece, published in The New York Times, Clooney urged Biden to step down from the November race due to his performance in the CNN debate against Donald Trump. Notably, Clooney had previously hosted a fundraising event for Biden in June, which raised over $28 million for his campaign.
Clooney wrote, “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.”
A campaign official responded to Clooney’s comments by informing CNN’s Kayla Tausche that Clooney had left the event three hours before the president, implying that Biden has more stamina than the Hollywood actor.
“But what does that mean? That George Clooney left three before? What’s the point?” Tapper asked.
“The point of that is to suggest that Biden’s stamina is better than Clooney’s. And Clooney didn’t have, you know, eyes on the entire event. That’s the response to the Clooney op-ed,” said Tausche.
“Okay,” Tapper responded.
WATCH:
Check out the look on Jake Tapper’s face after he’s told that the Biden campaign is suggesting that Joe Biden has more stamina than George Clooney because Clooney left a fundraiser before Biden did. pic.twitter.com/0WlUooT2xl
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 10, 2024
Biden continues to resist a growing number of calls from Democrat lawmakers, donors, and pundits to drop out following his disaster of a debate, but so far he has resisted.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump continues to gain momentum against Biden following their first debate last month. According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, likely voters, including Independents, believe Trump will be better for the economy, especially when it comes to handling “inflation.”
The survey, shared with the Washington Examiner, found that 60 percent of Independent voters being targeted by President Joe Biden think Republicans and, presumably, Trump, will better handle inflation and the economy. That is a major finding since the survey also found that more than eight-in-10 respondents listed inflation as a “serious” problem heading into the 2024 election.
Put another way, Rasmussen reported that 84 percent of respondents said that the current inflationary period under Biden will be a big factor in their voting choices this fall.
While Biden has dismissed concerns about inflation and the economy, at one point claiming people “have the money to spend,” polls continue to show that the nation feels harmed by rising prices and blame the White House. And earlier in his presidency, Biden bragged about “Bidenomics” — a basket of economic policies adopted by him — until the phrase became an albatross around his neck and was used by Republicans to demonstrate how the policies were harming Americans’ personal finances.
A new survey from last week showed that the price of groceries has grown by 25 percent since the pandemic began, and more so if you account for “quick trips to the store,” Food & Wine reported.
According to the Intuit Credit Karma survey, more than a quarter of the respondents admitted to skipping meals due to financial constraints.
“According to the survey, 28% said they are putting off paying for necessities, such as rent or other bills, to afford groceries — while 27% say they are occasionally skipping meals. Another 18% have applied for or considered applying for food stamps and other types of assistance, and 15% rely on or have considered visiting food banks for groceries,” the report said.
“Even if they haven’t taken concrete steps to manage their food bills, the survey found a wide perception that prices are going up. When asked about inflation, four-fifths of those surveyed (80%) said they’ve seen the highest price increases when shopping for groceries, followed by gasoline (51%), utility bills (39%), housing, and dining out (both 27%),” it said.
