George Clooney says seeing President Biden "up close" last year changed everything.
The actor, a lifelong Democrat, explained why he pulled his support. It all started after a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles.
"I was raised to tell the truth," Clooney said on "60 Minutes" Sunday. "I had seen the president up close for his fundraiser, and I was surprised, and so I feel as if there were a lot of profiles in cowardice in my party through all of that. And I was not proud of that, and I also believed I had to tell the truth."
Clooney had written an op-ed in the New York Times urging Biden to step down. It came just weeks after that very fundraiser, which brought in $30 million.
The essay followed Biden's poor debate performance in June. That moment shook the Democratic Party.
"I've always liked Joe Biden and I like him still," Clooney said. But seeing him in person changed his perspective.
"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.
Just under two weeks later, Biden dropped out. He endorsed Kamala Harris, who later lost to Trump.
Clooney appeared on "60 Minutes" to promote his Broadway debut, "Good Night, and Good Luck." He stars as legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow.
The play dives into Murrow’s battle with Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Clooney said it reflects today’s political climate.
"ABC has just settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration. And CBS News is in the process … We're seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine or use corporations — to make journalists smaller," he said.
"Governments don't like the freedom of the press. They never have. And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you're on. They don't like the press," he added.