George Clooney has issued a damning call for Joe Biden to drop out of the US presidential race, hours after he was asked by senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi whether he should continue.
The Hollywood actor and prominent Democratic Party fundraiser said the president has won many battles in his career, “but the one battle he can’t win is the battle against time”.
His comments came as former House Speaker Mrs. Pelosi added to the growing anxiety in the party, saying that time was running out for Mr. Biden to decide whether to continue his disastrous debate against Donald Trump. Then join the race or not.
The president has repeatedly said he is determined to remain the Democratic nominee and beat Trump in November.
“It was devastating to say,” George Clooney wrote in The New York Times, “but the Mr. Biden he met three weeks ago at a fundraising event was not the Joe Biden of 2010.”
“He was the guy we all saw in the debate,” Clooney said.
Clooney added that his concerns were shared by “every” member of Congress he spoke with.
Asked to respond, Mr. Biden’s campaign cited a letter the president sent to Democrats in Congress saying he was “strongly committed” to his candidacy and defeating Trump. are
Yet public dissent within Mr Biden’s party is growing as he faces scrutiny over the hosting of a NATO summit in Washington.
A spokesman for the Biden campaign referred to Mrs Pelosi’s comments on Tuesday, in which she said she had “always been committed” to the president.
About a dozen elected Democrats have suggested they drop out of the campaign since the June 27 debate with Trump.
On Tuesday, Michael Bennett of Colorado became the first Democratic senator to publicly dissent.
While he stopped short of calling for Mr. Biden to resign outright, he said Trump would likely win the election in a “landslide.”
When asked about Mr Bennett’s comments, the Biden campaign repeated the president’s statement that he was “running this race to the end”.
Others have been more direct. North Jersey Congressman Mickey Sherrill said in a statement: “I am asking that he announce that he will not seek re-election.”
The Congressional Black Caucus, a group of about 60 politicians, and new House members such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have publicly endorsed him.
On Tuesday, the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said: “I’m with Joe”.