The White House has been thrown into damage control after Hollywood heavyweight George Clooney delivered a stunning public blow to President Joe Biden's re-election campaign. In a scathing opinion piece, the actor and Democratic donor explicitly called for the 81-year-old president to step aside, creating what insiders describe as a "five-alarm fire" within the administration.
A Billion-Dollar Betrayal?
Clooney's intervention comes as a particularly bitter pill for the Biden camp, given that the Oscar-winner co-hosted a lavish Hollywood fundraiser for the President just weeks earlier that raked in over $30 million. "This wasn't just any donor - this was someone who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the President at his most successful fundraising event," a Democratic strategist revealed.
White House Press Secretary Fights Back
Karine Jean-Pierre, facing a barrage of questions during her daily briefing, mounted a fierce defence of the President's capabilities. "The President has and will continue to deliver for the American people," she asserted, deflecting repeated inquiries about Clooney's dramatic U-turn.
Behind the scenes, however, the atmosphere is described as "tense" and "volatile," with aides scrambling to contain the fallout from what many see as the most damaging celebrity intervention of the election cycle.
The Growing Chorus of Concern
Clooney's very public defection represents a significant escalation in the Democratic party's internal crisis:
- Multiple major donors have reportedly frozen contributions
- Several congressional Democrats have expressed private concerns about Biden's electability
- Poll numbers show growing voter anxiety about the President's age and fitness
- The campaign faces mounting pressure to demonstrate Biden's vitality
As one veteran Democratic operative put it: "When your star fundraiser becomes your chief critic, you know you're in serious trouble."
