George Clooney Gets Blamed by Social Media Users for Kamala Harris Defeat In the Presidential Election
After Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, some people have turned their frustration toward an unexpected target: actor George Clooney.
Approximately four months before the election, Clooney, 63, penned an op-ed for The New York Times urging Joe Biden to withdraw from the race, believing it would improve the Democratic party’s chances after the president’s disastrous June 27 debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
Now some disappointed Harris supporters and MAGA trolls are accusing Clooney of indirectly contributing to her loss because he didn’t actively support her during his campaign.
Clooney’s July 10 article expressed his respect for Biden but argued that the president’s age had become a liability.
“The Joe Biden I saw recently was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” he wrote.
He also added in his opinion piece, “We are not going to win in November with this president.”
The “Wolfs” actor suggested that stepping down would “enliven our party” and attract voters who had become disengaged, particularly with him seeming every bit of the 81-year-old that he was.
While Vice President Harris was quick to step up, she would ultimately lose to Trump, with 51 percent of the population voting for him over the Howard University graduate. The 45th president, who will also be the 47th, secured 295 electoral votes to Harris’ 226.
Now some social media users are singling Clooney lap for expressing what many Democratic supporters said at the time, claiming his call for Biden to step aside actually weakened the Democratic Party’s unity.
An X user even said Clooney stabbed his president in the back with his words.
“I will never forgive those people who stabbed him in the back,” the person tweeted. “The best President we’ve ever had. @robreiner @SpeakerPelosi and you George Clooney. What say you?”
One post on the X platform from the political commentator group altNOAA read, “Someone bring me George Clooney. We need to have a…talk.”
Someone bring me George Clooney.
We need to have a… talk. pic.twitter.com/f9SRd4nxfv
— altNOAA 🇺🇸 (@altNOAA) November 6, 2024
“Can someone please tell me where and how GEORGE CLOONEY worked so hard to get Kamala elected after publicly humiliating Biden and forcing him out of the race? I can’t think of one instance,” another asked, barking on him for being absent during Harris’ 107-day campaign.
“Trump should not forget to thank the Hollywood celebrities. Especially George Clooney,” a third person tweeted.
When the Daily Mail posted a story about the backlash, their readers also chimed in, with their opinions about the actor’s own political aspirations.
One person wrote, “Clooney wants to be engaged in politics and has his own political ambitions but the truth is he isn’t political material. Being a good actor and having money doesn’t make you worldly or politically astute. Frankly he’s out of his depth and has repeatedly proven that.”
Another added, “George Clooney ruined his own chances of a political career. He just likes the sound of his own voice and is a know-it-all who knows nothing about the real world.”
Even as Clooney endorsed Harris along with other high-profile celebrities like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Eminem and Lil’ Jon, his critics say his word didn’t impact her chances of winning and his earlier statements about Biden left lingering doubts among voters.
Not everyone blames the “Ocean’s Eleven” actor. One person tweeted, “It’s not George Clooney’s fault. Stop blaming him.”
It’s not George Clooney’s fault. Stop blaming him. pic.twitter.com/3lasgbqnm4
— Eric Pellinen (@EricPellinen) November 8, 2024
The X user might be right. America’s misogynoir might be at the core of why Harris lost.
Many of the same Democratic voters who cast their ballots for Biden in 2016 did not return to vote for Harris in this election, opting to vote for Trump despite saying they would vote for the former senator.
Latino men are one voting bloc that Biden secured but Harris lost ground with to Trump in this election.
Despite the Trump campaign spewing very negative and often bigoted rhetoric regarding Latinos and immigrants, including a comedian at his Madison Square Garden rally saying that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage,” Latino men gave a majority of their vote to the former reality star-turned-politician, according to CNN.
Another voting bloc was white women, who also stood with Trump, giving him the extra push to win over the vice president.
White men, as expected, overwhelmingly voted for the Queens native.
Clooney is an easy scapegoat, but it is clear. America simply is not ready for a Black woman to be president, as a result, many are holding their breath to see what a second Trump administration will bring.
