Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted actor George Clooney in her new book for writing a high-profile essay telling Joe Biden to drop out of last year’s presidential election.
In July 2024, Clooney penned a guest essay for the New York Times in which he described seeing an ailing Biden in the run-up to the election.
‘When I woke up, the piece was there, splayed across the pages of The New York Times. The headline? “George Clooney: I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee,” Jean-Pierre wrote in in her book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.
‘I read it in disbelief.’
In the essay, Clooney wrote of a fundraiser he hosted with Biden: ‘It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser 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. ‘
Jean-Pierre said the actor’s piece came as a ‘gut punch’ to her old boss, whom she maintained was still fit to lead the country.
‘Clooney was an A-list Hollywood celebrity and a self-professed proud Democrat. His opinion was a huge deal and would draw tremendous attention from the media and the public alike,’ Jean-Pierre wrote.
Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s new book, ‘Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines, came out on Tuesday
In the book, Jean-Pierre singled out George Clooney – seen here with wife Amal at the London Film Festival this month – for expressing his doubts about Biden in a guest essay for the New York Times
She also criticized decisions made by the Democratic party before Biden bowed out of the race, framing her colleagues’ effort to remove him as a betrayal.
Clooney’s calls ‘may not have been a calculated jab at the party’s campaign to push out the president, but the letter lent a renewed velocity to the effort,’ she wrote.
‘After its publication, more and more party leaders said Biden had to go.’
‘Though his concerns weren’t completely unjustified, his assessment didn’t offer the full context.’
Jean-Pierre also described the fundraiser Clooney hosted with Biden, which she attended.
‘We went through nine time zones. I was tired, and I’m decades younger than Biden, so it was understandable that he might not have been sprinting across a ballroom or at his most electric when addressing the star-studded crowd,’ she wrote.
Jean-Pierre claimed that she did not personally witness any signs of Biden’s cognitive decline and that the Democratic party effectively forced him out.
She did recognize that something was off after Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June 2024.
Jean-Pierre said that Clooney’s piece came as a ‘gut punch’ to her old boss, who she claimed was still fit to serve
‘He was hoarse. He kind of looked like he was sick,’ she wrote
High-level Democrats already put off by Biden’s odds then jumped at the chance to attack him, Jean-Pierre claimed.
‘Everything that I’ve been pushing back on – his age, is he fit – like automatically anytime he would sneeze or have a runny nose or something would happen, that would be where the questions would go,’ she wrote.
Still, she maintained that she saw no reason to doubt the president ability to serve.
Aside from Clooney, Jean-Pierre blamed high-ranking Democrats like Nancy Pelosi for the disunity and disloyalty within the party.
The book’s title is a reference to how the former press secretary no longer identifies as a Democrat, but as an Independent.
It comes after months after Jake Tapper co-authored a book about Biden’s decline.
Dozens of unnamed sources who spoke with the CNN star suggested members of the party for months attempted to cover-up the then-president’s cognitive decline.
Biden pictured at a fundraiser Clooney hosted for him, alongside Julia Roberts and Barack Obama
‘The President appeared severely diminished, as if he’d aged a decade since Clooney last saw him, in December, 2022,’ Tapper and co-author Alex Thompson wrote. The book came out in May.
Kamala Harris, in her own memoir, wrote that it was ‘reckless’ for Biden to run for re-election in 2024 and that his handling of the race endangered her campaign.
