George Clooney made a bold offer to Donald Trump on Tuesday night in the latest round of their political showdown: “I’ll stay out of this — if you do.”
Clooney, who has long had political aspirations, drew Trump’s ire earlier this year with an op-ed in which he implored Biden, then a candidate, to withdraw from the race to give Democrats a fair chance.
Trump was furious and wrote a scathing post on Truth Social calling on the Hollywood star to focus on what he does best.
Last night, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Clooney proposed a truce — on one condition.
“You know what, if he does it, I will,” Clooney said, receiving thunderous applause from the studio audience.
Kimmel took it a step further, asking Clooney, 63, if he had ever considered writing another op-ed advocating for Trump to resign.
“Have you thought about writing an op-ed in the Times asking him to resign? Since it worked the first time, why not try it again?” the liberal host joked.
George Clooney Finally Responds to Donald Trump’s Call to ‘Get Out of Politics’
Clooney responded with only a hint of sarcasm: “He’s a big fan of mine.”
Clooney’s op-ed against the current president was one of many dominoes falling in Biden’s downward campaign.
Other notable setbacks included Barack Obama’s private statement that Biden should “seriously consider” whether to stay in the race, and dozens of elected Democrats publicly and privately saying the 81-year-old should step aside.
Clooney wrote the piece on July 10, nearly two weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate performance with Trump.
On the afternoon of July 21, Biden dropped out of the presidential race via a social media post and quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor as the party’s nominee.
The former president didn’t hold back as he took aim at the two-time Oscar winner
Kimmel asked Clooney, who has organized fundraisers for Biden, whether he thinks his op-ed had a major impact on the election.
“It may have changed the world,” Kimmel argued. “It had a huge impact on the presidential election. Right?”
“No, I don’t know if that’s true,” Clooney said, before reiterating his earlier praise for Biden for his “selfless act” in relinquishing power.
Kimmel also pointed to the potential damage Clooney would want to do to Biden’s campaign if the president had chosen not to leave office.
“What do you mean, Jimmy?” Clooney interrupted with a smile.
“I mean, you made a big shot and thank God you hit it out,” Kimmel said.
“It could have been very bad. It still could have been very bad,” Clooney said, seeming to acknowledge the relatively close race between Harris and Trump.