George Clooney Calls Replacing Biden with Kamala Harris in 2024 a ‘Mistake’

George Clooney recently reflected on his controversial New York Times op-ed urging President Joe Biden to step aside in the 2024 election.

Speaking to CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” Clooney said he does not regret writing the piece but admitted that having Kamala Harris replace Biden as the Democratic nominee was, in hindsight, “a mistake.”

Clooney explained, “Yes. We had a chance. I wanted there to be, as I wrote in the op-ed, a primary. Let’s battle-test this quickly and get it up and going. I think the mistake with it being Kamala is she had to run against her own record.”

“It’s very hard to do if the point of running is to say, ‘I’m not that person.’ It’s hard to do, and so she was given a very tough task. I think it was a mistake, quite honestly. But we are where we are.” The actor said.

The actor became the public face of calls for Biden to step aside after the president’s difficult showing in his first 2024 debate with Donald Trump.

Clooney’s July 2024 essay argued that Biden’s candidacy would hurt Democrats’ chances in Congress. He wrote, “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. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”

Clooney told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he considered it his responsibility to speak out. “That’s the deal, you have to take your stand if you believe in it. Take a stand, stand for it and then deal with the consequences.”

“That’s the rules, so when people criticize me — they criticized me for my stance against the war 20 years ago, people picketed my movies and they put me on a deck of cards — I have to take that, that’s fair. I’m OK with that, I’m OK with criticism for where I stand. I defend their right to criticize me as much as I defend my right to criticize them.”

Clooney’s comments highlight the challenges he sees in leadership transitions and the political pressures on candidates who step in at the last minute. He maintains that speaking honestly about these issues is more important than avoiding criticism.

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