One of the big reports of the week on the Biden front was George Clooney's op-ed piece calling on Joe Biden to step down from the campaign.
Early Thursday, it was reported that Obama more than likely gave Clooney the green light to publish the piece, but Obama remained quiet, not denying or confirming the report.
Talking Points…
- Clooney gets the green light
- Democrat Party imploding
- Analysis
George Clooney and Barack Obama have become fairly close friends since Obama served as president. That is precisely why Clooney has been so supportive of Joe Biden during this campaign, even holding a massive fundraiser for Biden a few weeks ago.
Clooney made headlines earlier this week by publishing an op-ed in the New York Times this week that called for Joe Biden to step down from the campaign. In his op-ed, he had stated:
"But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can.
"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."
On Thursday, the media was trying to figure out who was behind the hit piece, with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski floating the idea that it was Obama who had encouraged Clooney to publish the piece. She stated:
"I think that Barack Obama has a lot of influence, and I think that there's, there's a lot there."
After the accusations were made, everyone seemed to be scrambling to either do damage control or to create further distance from Biden. It started with a comment about the Clooney piece, saying, "While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn't object to it." Obama's camp has remained silent, but that has not been the case for all Democrats.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) has joined the ranks of Democrats asking Biden to step down. Himes stated:
"The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump's promised MAGA authoritarianism.
"I no longer believe that is Joe Biden."
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) was on the other side, cracking a joke about Clooney, then stating:
"Anyone concerned about his ability to lead and govern should be reassured."
At this point, all Trump really needs to do is sit back and let the Democrat Party implode. He continues to stay on point with his messaging and allows the Democrats to rip their candidate apart to show all his shortcomings. As long as Joe remains defiant, I would suspect voter energy will be low on election day. We need to keep looking at polling and see how it swings. As long as Trump is ahead in battleground states, there is no need to flip this news cycle until the convention.
