Joe Biden Failed to Recognize Longtime Friend George Clooney at 2024 Fundraiser, New Book Claims

During the middle of Joe Biden’s term, the president failed to recognize his longtime friend and renowned actor George Clooney, a moment that left the “Ticket to Paradise” star “shaken,” according to a new book.

The reported incident was detailed in CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson’s “Original Sin,” which covers Biden’s mental decline, his administration’s attempt to cover it up and the journalist’s take on Biden’s decision to make a second run for president. An excerpt from the book was shared in a post on The New Yorker.

In the writeup, the journalists mention that the last time Clooney and Biden saw one another was in 2022 at the Kennedy Center Honors. At the time, Biden referred to Clooney as “Amal Clooney’s husband,” which he read from “prepared remarks.” Two years later at the actor’s June 2024 fundraiser for Biden, the president didn’t have the slightest clue who the iconic actor was until his aide tipped him off.

“You know George, the aide told Biden at the time.

“Yeah, yeah,” the president responded. “Thank you for being here.”

When Clooney said hello to Biden and asked about his trip, Tapper and Thompson write that it “seemed clear” that the president didn’t recognize him.

“Clooney was shaken to his core,” the journalists wrote. “The President hadn’t recognized him, a man he had known for years. Clooney had expressed concern about Biden’s health before — a White House aide had told him a few months before that they were working on getting the President to take longer steps when he walked — but obviously the problem went far beyond his gait. This was much graver.”

Prior to Clooney dropping his op-ed pleading for Biden to step down from his role, Tapper and Thompson report that the actor was told Democrats had plans to convince Biden to exit. But when those failed in the form of a resistant letter from Biden, Clooney’s next move was reaching out to former President Barack Obama, who told Clooney further attempts “would only make Biden dig deeper.”

A month later, and after Biden’s catastrophic debate against Donald Trump, Clooney posted his New York Times guest essay “George Clooney: I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.”

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