Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney added his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race on Wednesday, just weeks after headlining a fundraiser that brought in a record single-night haul for the president's reelection campaign.
Clooney said in a New York Times opinion piece that he loves Biden, but the party would lose the presidential race as well as any control in Congress with him as the nominee.
“This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private,” wrote Clooney. He's hosted several high-dollar Hollywood fundraisers, including for Biden last month.
Clooney argued the party should pick a new nominee at its convention next month, saying the process would be “messy” but “wake up” voters in the party’s favor, mentioning Vice President Kamala Harris and Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Gavin Newsom of California among those from who the country should now hear.
Focusing much of his piece around Biden's age, Clooney noted differences he saw in the 81-year-old president during their recent Los Angeles event compared to years past.
“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," Clooney wrote. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Last month, Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage for a fundraiser that took in a record $30 million-plus for Biden, in hopes of energizing would-be supporters for a White House contest they said may rank among the most consequential in U.S. history.
Luminaries from the entertainment world have increasingly lined up to help Biden’s campaign. Leading up to the fundraiser, Clooney's name appeared on numerous fundraising missives from the campaign, which he called “the fight of our lives.”
Representatives for Clooney did not immediately return a message seeking comment on insight into his decision, when precisely he had made it or how recently he had spoken with Biden.
Biden has refused to end his reelection bid after his weak debate performance against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on June 27.
Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina. She can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
FILE - Actor George Clooney speaks to the media following a meeting at the White House in Washington, Feb. 23, 2009. Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney is adding his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race. Clooney says in a New York Times opinion piece Wednesday that he loves Biden, but the party would lose the presidential race as well as any control in Congress with him as the nominee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - Director George Clooney attends a special screening of "The Boys in the Boat," Dec. 13, 2023, in New York. Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney is adding his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race. Clooney says in a New York Times opinion piece Wednesday that he loves Biden, but the party would lose the presidential race as well as any control in Congress with him as the nominee. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden shakes hands with actor, director and producer George Clooney during the Kennedy Center honorees reception at the White House in Washington, Dec. 4, 2022. Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney is adding his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race. Clooney says in a New York Times opinion piece Wednesday that he loves Biden, but the party would lose the presidential race as well as any control in Congress with him as the nominee. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
One wore a veil, the other fought with her head bare.
Nahid Kiyani Chandeh and Kimia Alizadeh were once friends and roommates as part of the junior Iran taekwondo team. Now an entire world separates them.
They clashed Thursday at the Paris Olympics in the 57-kilogram division and Alizadeh, who defected from Iran, lost in her bid to win a gold medal for her new country, Bulgaria.
Kiyani Chandeh, the current world champion, came out on top of a very tense fight that was settled by a referee decision after the athletes, both 26, finished tied with seven points each in the decisive third round.
Alizadeh had a three-point lead in the decider with six seconds left, but Kiyani Chandeh leveled with a kick to the head and was handed the victory by superiority.
Kiyani Chandeh went on to win the tournament and Alizadeh claimed a bronze medal after going through a repechage process.
Alizadeh was the first Iranian female athlete ever to win an Olympic medal when she claimed bronze in Rio de Janeiro as an 18-year-old.
Her win catapulted her to fame, but she grew frustrated with life in Iran. As she announced she was leaving her country four years ago, she accused Iranian officials of sexism and criticized wearing the mandatory hijab headscarf.
At the time, she described herself as “one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran.”
After heading to Germany, she became a member of the Refugee Olympic Team and came close to earning a bronze medal in Tokyo.
In April, she left the IOC team — created in 2016 to provide opportunities to victims of political persecution and war — when she announced she had received Bulgarian citizenship.
The round-of-16 fight Thursday between the two rivals — who used to be roomates at Iran's national training center during their youth year — was revenge for Kiyani Chandeh, who had lost to Alizadeh in Tokyo.
She belted out her joy and clenched her fists in delight after her win and celebrated with her coach as Alizadeh took a knee. The rivals didn’t even glance at each other as they exited the octagonal combat zone, then declined to speak to reporters.
Asked whether the bout was politically charged, the president of the Iranian taekwondo federation said it was just a “very hard match.”
“This is a sport, it's not politics,” he said. “She is in the Bulgaria team now, we respect everybody. Their relationship is not bad.”
More Paris Olympics news: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh, left, reacts at the end of a women's 57kg Taekwondo match against Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi competes with Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh in a women's 57kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi competes with Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh in a women's 57kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi competes with Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh in a women's 57kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi competes with Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh in a women's 57kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi competes with Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh in a women's 57kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi competes with Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh in a women's 57kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi reacts at the end of a women's 57kg Taekwondo match against Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh reacts at the end of a women's 57kg Taekwondo match against Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Iran's Nahid Kiyanichandeh, right, reacts at the end of a women's 57kg Taekwondo match against Bulgaria's Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
