George Clooney lists Andy Beshear among Dems to look to for Biden replacement in new op-ed

WASHINGTON — American actor and director George Clooney argued in new op-ed that the Democratic party needs a new nominee, suggesting Gov. Andy Beshear as one of the names the party should look to for a potential replacement.

“We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate,” Clooney wrote in a New York Times piece published Wednesday.

“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. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly,” he added.

Clooney, who was born in Lexington and is a self-described lifelong Democrat and Biden supporter, was among a group of A-list celebrities that co-hosted a glitzy Hollywood fundraiser last month for the sitting president’s campaign that brought in $30 million.

But in his op-ed, Clooney said Biden was not the same person at the fundraiser in Los Angeles that he’s known for years, writing that the one battle Biden can’t win is the “fight against time.”

"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. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate," Clooney wrote.

Clooney argued that the Democratic party should hear more from other prominent potential candidates, including Beshear, Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, among others.

"Let’s agree that the candidates not attack one another but, in the short time we have, focus on what will make this country soar. Then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out," he wrote.

Actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Clooney "has clearly expressed what many of us have been saying."

"We love and respect Joe Biden. We acknowledge all he has done for our country. But Democracy is facing an existential threat. We need someone younger to fight back. Joe Biden must step aside," he wrote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Clooney mentions Beshear, others as possible Biden replacements