George Clooney speculation US President

Well, hmmmn, agreed of course that Clooney is a big donor and will have met Biden many times so is in a better position than most actors and celebs to pontificate on what’s what with Biden and his abilities.
I don’t think that anyone is serious about Clooney putting himself forward as a Presidential candidate, or at least I hope not.True, Reagan used to be an actor but he also had a lot of political experience as a Governor immediately before he became President.

DrWatson, Clint Eastwood DID go into politics. He was Governor of California for quite some time!

Clooney doesn't want to stand for President but Biden does, it's not those around Biden forcing him to continue! I fear this assassination attempt on Trump will make him more popular and Biden less so.

Sleepy Joe is now 81 so I can understand that he's getting confused at his delicate age, he appears to be suffering from dementia as a lot of people his age do, but making such gaffes ...but then as a white male he then said he's "proud to be the first vice president, first black woman"!

How did he, English/Irish originally get mixed with the VP Kamala Harris who is American/African/Tamil Indian?!

Sorry Joe, but you need to step down!

Paperbackwriter

DrWatson, Clint Eastwood DID go into politics. He was Governor of California for quite some time!

A bit over the top! Clint was Mayor of Carmel for two years.

Politics in the US is not like our here in the UK.

The system in the US is almost totally owned by big money. The party with the most money is usually the one that wins.

George Clooney is a massive donor and therefore withdrawing his money would make a huge difference, and demonstates how embedded this system is.

I feel more than a little sorry for Joe Biden. He is a man with an excellent track record especially in international diplomacy and is clearly able to still manage to be an effective president. He is all too aware of the delicate nature of the factions working to increase the global chaos, probably more than anyone.

But... who else will attract the funding needed if sponsors are starting to leak away? It is a very difficult question to answer.

What surprises and disturbs me is the level of ageism inherent in this media coverage, and on this forum which I suspect represents people of an age approaching Biden's?

I think it is for the American people, and especially the Democratic party, to now look for a candidate that will bring the money and the influence.

It will not be an easy decision. Despite what people say here, Biden will be especially difficult to replace.

I’ve heard Clooney suggested as a replacement candidate. We should remember the power wielded by celebrity in the States. Added to this, Clooney has been a Democrat fundraiser for years, has always involved himself in politics. He is also a producer and director, and some of his movies have had a serious political message e.g. Syriana, George Clayton, Men Who Stare at Goats and The Ides of March. He is also married to a high profile human rights lawyer. (Ronald Reagan was a B movie actor who, ironically, was also mentally challenged towards the end of presidential office.) Add to this, the bravery and tenacity of President Zelenskiiy, an ex comedy actor, who has led Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, and the dismissal of Clooney as a mere ‘celebrity’ in the serious issue of the finding the next POTUS, seems unnecessarily pejorative.

I think it was Arnold Swcharzeneger who was Governor of California.
I may have spelled his name wrong!

Emilymaria Clooney has stated clearly that he doesn't want to stand, if he did he would not have come out publicly to say that Biden should step down as the optics would have looked bad! There are a number of prominent and younger Democrats that are being named such as Gary Newsam and Gretchen Whitsam but there's no guarantee they would run and Kamala Harris would be the obvious choice as the money raised to support Biden could legally be used to support Harris but not other candidates. If Biden won't step down it's quite a complex procedure to get rid of him at the party convention but it would need around 4k delegates to support the move.