George Clooney Tells CNN It Was His ‘Civic Duty’ To Pen Scathing Biden Op-Ed: Democrats Were ‘Not Telling the Truth’

George Clooney told CNN it was his “civic duty” to pen a scathing op-ed in 2024 calling for then-President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid.

In a preview of an interview that will air in full on Wednesday, Clooney was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper about his bombshell New York Times op-ed. The filmmaker, who is currently starring in an adaptation of Good Night and Good Luck on Broadway, argued in his piece for Biden to drop his reelection bid and questioned the physical and mental state of the then-president.

The op-ed followed a Biden debate, which sparked concerns about the then-president’s age and chances against now-President Donald Trump. Biden dropped out of the race just days after Clooney’s thoughts were published.

“I don’t know if it was brave. It was a civic duty,” Clooney, a longtime Democratic Party supporter and donor, said. “Because I found that people on my side of the street — and I’m a Democrat from Kentucky so I get it — when I saw people on my side of the street not telling the truth, I thought it was time to [speak].”

“Are people still mad at you for that?” Tapper asked.

“Some people, sure,” Clooney said.

Clooney’s full interview will air on CNN’s The Lead. Wolf Blitzer aired a preview during Wednesday’s The Situation Room.

According to Biden biographer Chris Whipple’s upcoming campaign tell-all Unchartered: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History, Clooney lost it on a Morning Joe producer after a segment tied his op-ed to former President Barack Obama. Co-host Mika Brzezinski had suggested at the time that Obama authorized Clooney to write the op-ed, which reportedly infuriated the actor.

“How the fuck could you let her link me with Barack Obama saying he made me write the op-ed?” Clooney told a producer, according to the book, adding, “you fucked me.”

Watch above via CNN.