Trump calls George Clooney a 'rat' for turning on Biden
'What does Clooney know about anything?' the former president remarked after the superstar actor wrote an op-ed urging Biden to step down
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former President Trump lashed out at actor George Clooney on Wednesday night, calling the Democratic Party ally a "rat" for calling on President Biden to cease re-election efforts.
Clooney published an op-ed in The New York Times earlier in the day, expressing his belief that Biden "saved our democracy" by beating Trump in 2020 but acknowledging that Democrats "are not going to win in November with this president."
Trump responded to the op-ed later that night via Truth Social, his proprietary social media platform, saying, "So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act. He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PRESSURE ON BIDEN BUILDS AS GEORGE CLOONEY SAYS HE'S UNFIT AND POLITICIANS PRIVATELY AGREE
President Biden, right, greets George Clooney during the Kennedy Center honoree reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4, 2022. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"What does Clooney know about anything? He uses the Democrat ‘talking point’ that Biden, the WORST President in the history of the United States, has ‘saved our Democracy,'" Trump stated.
Clooney did take an apologetic tone in his op-ed — outright stating "I love Joe Biden" and that he believes in his "character" and "morals" — but claimed to have witnessed his decline firsthand at a fundraiser last month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate," Clooney wrote.
Former President Trump appears at a campaign event at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami on Tuesday. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The actor joined a growing list of Hollywood elites and megadonors who have turned on Biden following the debate, where his halting, frail and at-times confused performance alarmed supporters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Crooked Joe Biden didn’t save our Democracy, he brought our Democracy to its knees. Clooney should get out of politics and go back to television. Movies never really worked for him!!!" Trump concluded.
Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, mocked Clooney for waiting until three weeks after his star-studded fundraiser for Biden in which he raised millions of dollars to acknowledge the president is "a vegetable."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, speaks during a radio broadcast prior to Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Jan. 30, 2020. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
"George Clooney, what a f------ hero this guy is, huh? Comes forward today — now, this guy threw a fundraiser, raised tens of millions, co-chair for Biden, three weeks ago. Today comes out, he’s like, ‘Guess what? The guy you saw in the debate, that vegetable, that’s f------ Biden, he’s a vegetable. He was a vegetable three weeks ago.’ Acting like he’s doing some heroic thing," Portnoy said in a video posted on X.
Besides Clooney, members of Biden's party, political allies and liberal media figures have also pressured the president to drop out of the race, warning he cannot beat former President Trump.
Despite mounting pressure to step aside, Biden has insisted to supporters and media outlets this week that he will stay in the race and remains the best candidate to beat his GOP rival.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital's Kristine Parks and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.