NEW YORK: Actor George Clooney, one of the Democratic Party’s leading fundraisers, on Wednesday made an emotional and heartfelt plea for President Joe Biden to end his faltering reelection campaign.
Clooney — a member of the Hollywood elite that provides key support to the Democrats — joined a growing list of public figures calling for Biden, 81, to step aside after his terrible debate performance against Donald Trump last month.
“I love Joe Biden,” Clooney wrote in the New York Times. “I consider him a friend, and I believe in him... But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.”
A self-described “lifelong Democrat,” Clooney co-hosted a star-studded fundraiser with Biden in Los Angeles only last month featuring former president Barack Obama.
The Biden campaign said that the event brought in a record $28 million.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote, referencing a famous hot-mic clip from Biden’s vice presidency.
“He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” Clooney said — a direct challenge to Biden’s claim that his poor debate showing was a one-off.
“The dam has broken” on Democratic lawmakers publicly calling for Biden to withdraw, Clooney said, asking for more to come forward.
“Top Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.”
The Oscar-winner brushed aside worries that Biden’s exit would create chaos four months before an election in which the Democrats hope to keep Trump from power, and did not endorse a replacement candidate.
The party should hear from contenders such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and others, “then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out,” he wrote.
George Clooney urges Biden to end campaign
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George Clooney urges Biden to end campaign
- Clooney — a member of the Hollywood elite that provides key support to the Democrats — joined a growing list of public figures calling for Biden, 81, to step aside
- George Clooney: I love Joe Biden. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him... But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time
Ukraine, US, Europe still seeking common ground in peace talks, French official says
- French presidency official: “The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective”
PARIS: Ukraine, the United States and European powers are still working to find a joint position that would outline the contours of a peace deal, including security guarantees for Kyiv, that could be taken to Russia, a French presidency official said on Friday.
“Our goal is to have a common foundation that is solid for negotiation. This common ground must unite Ukrainians, Americans and Europeans,” the official told reporters in a briefing.
“It should allow us, together, to make a negotiating offer, a solid, lasting peace offer that respects international law and Ukraine’s sovereign interests, an offer that American negotiators are willing to bring to the Russians.”
The official said there was no joint document yet, but all sides would carry on negotiations in the coming days through various calls and meetings. He did not say whether Washington had set a deadline.
Kyiv is under pressure from the White House to secure a quick peace but is pushing back on a US-backed plan proposed last month that many see as favorable to Moscow.
Britain, France and Germany, along with other European partners and Ukraine, have been working frantically in the last few weeks to refine the original US proposals that envisaged Kyiv giving up swathes of its territory to Moscow, abandoning its ambition to join NATO and accepting limits on the size of its armed forces.
The French official said the talks aimed at narrowing differences with the United States and centered on territory and potential security guarantees for Ukraine once there is a peace accord.
Those discussions include the possibility of a NATO Article-5 type clause involving Washington that would seek to reassure Kyiv in case it was once again attacked by Russia, the official said.
The Europeans have also faced pressure in recent weeks with some American proposals touching on elements that concern NATO and the European Union, including suggestions on fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.
“The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective,” the official said. “That is what we are committed to and it is up to the Europeans and the Ukrainians to agree on how to proceed.”
