George Clooney didn’t receive pushback after running anti-Biden op-ed by Obama before publishing

Actor George Clooney ran his op-ed calling for President Joe Biden to step down by former President Barack Obama, who reportedly didn’t give any pushback.

Following a rough week after his debate performance, Biden appeared to have quelled a rebellion within his party, resulting in most lawmakers closing ranks behind him. This wall of unity began to crack after a series of blows on Wednesday, one of which was an op-ed from Clooney, who said Biden wasn’t mentally capable of running for reelection and that Democrats must move to replace him.

The actor had run the piece by Obama before sending it in — to which he received no major pushback, according to Politico.

People familiar with the exchange said the former president hadn’t encouraged or advised him on writing the op-ed, but the lack of any pushback is likely to be seen as a betrayal within the Biden camp.

The reveal had been predicted by the Daily Mail’s Charlie Spiering shortly after Clooney’s op-ed was published.

“Few celebrities are closer with Obama than George Clooney – You can bet he ran this statement about Biden by Barack before it went public,” he posted on X.

Obama had been one of the stars of the glitzy fundraiser hosted by Clooney last month. In his op-ed, the actor said Biden’s alleged cognitive decline was on full display and that he was “the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

A Biden campaign official undercut the basis for Clooney’s op-ed, saying Clooney only appeared at the fundraiser briefly for a photo, while Biden was there for more than three hours.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Obama for comment.

In response to a request for comment, Biden campaign spokesman Seth Schuster referred the Washington Examiner to the president’s letter on Monday in which he pledged to stay in the race.

Though close friends with Obama, Clooney has had a more tense relationship with Biden. Last month, he called the White House to complain about Biden’s attacks on the International Criminal Court’s issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders — cases his wife, Amal Clooney, had worked on.

Obama has been publicly supportive of Biden since the debate rocked the political world, tacking it down to simply a bad night.

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“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,” he posted on X. “But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”

But behind closed doors, reports quickly emerged of a harsher analysis from Biden’s former boss. Despite the glowing public statement after the debate, a report from the Washington Post said Obama was privately voicing concerns.