George Clooney endorses Kamala Harris and praises Biden after he penned op-ed calling on him to drop out of 2024 race

Hollywood star’s New York Times op-ed earlier this month ramped up pressure on the president to step aside

George Clooney has endorsed Kamala Harris and praised Joe Biden for “saving democracy” just days after he penned a damning op-ed calling on the president to step aside from the 2024 race.

“President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again,” the Hollywood star said in a statement to CNN.

“We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.”

Following three weeks of pressure after his disastrous debate perfomance against Donald Trump last month, Biden, 81, finally announced on Sunday that he was abandoning his reelection campaign and endorsing Harris to replace him on the Democratic party ticket.

Since then, Democratic lawmakers, donors and public figures have swiftly united around the vice president and her campaign raked in a record-breaking $81m in donations in the first 24 hours.

By the close of Monday, Harris also appeared to have secured enough delegates to win the nomination at the upcoming Democratic National Convention next month.

Clooney’s endorsement comes after the actor sent shockwaves through the Biden camp on July 10 when the longtime Democrat and supporter of the president penned an editorial in The New York Times calling on Biden to step down from the race.

Just three weeks earlier, Clooney had hosted a $28m celebrity fundraiser on Biden’s behalf featuring Barack Obama and Julia Roberts.

In the op-ed, Clooney said he had witnessed first-hand a change in his “friend”.

“The one battle he cannot win is the fight against time,” Clooney wrote.

George Clooney, President Joe Biden, Julia Roberts and Barack Obama at Democrat Party Fundraiser (X/@mmpadellan)

“None of us can. 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 spoke of his “love” for Biden as a senator, vice president and president, praising the many “battles” the White House incumbent has won since taking office in January 2021.

But the star was also withering in his criticism of the Democratic Party and Biden’s inner circle of advisers, writing: “We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign.

“Is it fair to point these things out? It has to be. This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate.”

Clooney added that his opinion was shared by “every senator and congress member and governor” he had spoken to privately since the debate.

His editorial was a major blow to Biden’s campaign at a time when he was rapidly losing support from top Democrats, donors and allies.

Donald Trump hit out at Clooney over his editorial at the time, calling him a “fake movie star” who should “get out of politics and go back to television”.

Following Biden’s announcement on Monday, Ana Navarro, co-host of ABC’s The View criticized Clooney. “I hope those donors who said things about him come back with big checks now,” she added.