George Clooney says media ‘dropped the ball’ when covering Biden’s health
George Clooney calls on Biden to exit presidential race
‘All-Star’ panelists Aishah Hasnie, Guy Benson and Jason Riley discuss how Democratic lawmakers and liberal celebrities are expressing concern over President Biden’s fitness and re-election campaign on ‘Special Report.’
Actor George Clooney conceded during a Thursday interview that the media failed in its coverage of former President Biden’s fitness and ability to serve.
Clooney told The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd that Biden was irresponsible in covering up his “incapacities,” and added, “the media, in many ways, dropped the ball.”
Reacting to a moment when former President Obama led Biden off the stage at a Los Angeles fundraiser in June, Clooney said, “I saw him for hours a year earlier at the Kennedy Center, and I saw someone much less sharp.” Dowd wrote that the experience left Clooney “gobsmacked.”
“I’ve always liked Joe Biden, and I like him still,” he added.
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George Clooney said that despite urging former President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, “I’ve always liked Joe Biden, and I like him still.” (Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Franco Origlia / Contributor)
Clooney also reflected on why President Donald Trump won the election, pointing to Biden’s messaging.
“The Biden administration was terrible at explaining that we’re a world economy, where we were actually doing better than all the other G7 countries. They were bad at telling the story because their messenger was not working at his best, to say the least,” he said.
Biden’s team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The long-time liberal actor notably called for former President Biden to drop out in July, following the former president’s rough debate performance against Trump.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser 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 in a guest essay for the New York Times at the time, noting the June 2024 fundraiser in Los Angeles.
After talking to Clooney for Thursday’s article, Dowd explained, “People thought Obama was behind it, but Clooney said he did it despite being urged not to.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon arrival in West Palm Beach, Florida, February 16, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Clooney also attacked Trump during the interview.
“I believe that whole idea of the arc of history bending toward justice, and I know it doesn’t feel that way right now,” he told Dowd of Trump. “I think there are always these pendulum swings. The first Trump election was, I believe, a result of eight years of a Black president.”
“No rules count anymore,” Clooney said of Trump. “It’s like letting an infant walk across the 405 freeway in the middle of the afternoon.”
George Clooney attends a press event announcing the complete Broadway cast of “Good Night, And Good Luck” at The Wintergarden Theatre on February 6, 2025 in New York City. ((Photo by Bruce Glikas/WireImage))
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Clooney also spoke to Dowd about his new Broadway show, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” which features Clooney starring as late CBS News anchor Edward R. Murrow.
Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
