George Clooney calls for Joe Biden's withdrawal from the election race. Pelosi: decide quickly
'He cannot win his battle against time. None of us can,' said the actor in the New York Times
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Key points
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George Clooney calls for Joe Biden's withdrawal from the White House race. "He can't win his battle against time. None of us can. It's terrible to say but the Joe Biden I got together with three weeks ago for a fundraiser was not the Joe Biden of 2010. He was not the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same person we saw at the debate'. Says Clooney in the New York Times. The actor was one of the key players at the fundraiser Biden attended in Los Angeles after the G7.
'I love Joe Biden but we need a new candidate,' Clooney says. At the debate 'was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us they haven't seen what 51 million people have seen. We are so terrified by the prospect of a second Donald Trump term that we have opted to ignore any warning signs. The interview with George Stephanopoulos only reinforced what we saw the week before,' Clooney added. 'We are not going to win with this candidate. We will not win the House and we will lose the Senate. This is not just my opinion: this is the opinion of every senator, congressman and governor I have spoken to in private," the actor noted.
Pelosi, Biden decide whether to run, time is running out
Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, 84, former speaker of the House, said that "it's up to the president to decide whether to run" in the presidential election. "We encourage him to make that decision, because the clock is ticking." Pelosi, interviewed by Msnbc, did not expressly give her support to Biden's candidacy and, when confronted by the reporter's insistence, who asked her opinion on the president's reapplication, replied: 'I want him to do what he decides to do. Whatever he decides, we'll be with him'. Pelosi then asked that any discussion or debate on Biden's future be done after the conclusion of the NATO summit, currently underway in Washington. Biden has already reiterated several times that he has no intention of stepping down.
Meanwhile, an eighth Democrat congressman is publicly calling for Joe Biden to withdraw from the race. Pat Ryan, in an interview with the New York Times, says he does not believe the president is the strongest candidate to beat Donald Trump. "I would be doing a disservice if I said he's the best candidate. For the good of our country I ask Joe Biden to step aside," he said.
Jeffries will convey Dem concerns on eligibility to Biden
Not good enough. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has told several Democratic members of Congress in private meetings that he will convey concerns about the president's eligibility to Joe Biden. Politico reports this, citing two people familiar with the situation, as more and more Dems call for the president to drop out of the White House race. According to Politico, Jeffries has convened listening sessions with caucus members in recent days, including a meeting today with members of the centrist New Democrat coalition to discuss the impact Biden's candidacy has on the so-called 'battleground states'. Meanwhile, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom many have asked for advice, has had private conversations with some Democrats to hear their concerns, according to two people familiar with those discussions. It is not yet clear when Jeffries will speak with the president. When asked, Jeffries stepped back and said that "in-depth conversations with the House Democratic Caucus" will be "the focus of our activity today, tomorrow, and we'll see where we go from there."
