'He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,' George Clooney said
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The narrative aggressively pushed by the Biden campaign and White House in recent weeks about President Biden, which included trying to quash concerns about his mental fitness by calling videos of him struggling "cheap fakes," took a significant hit on Wednesday after a top Hollywood actor and former Obama aide spoke out.
On Wednesday, actor George Clooney called on Biden to leave the 2024 race, citing what he witnessed at a Hollywood fundraiser in late June where the president was criticized for seemingly needing to be led off the stage by former President Obama.
"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, a longtime friend of Obama, wrote.
That conclusion was backed by former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, who attended the Hollywood fundraiser.
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President Biden and actor George Clooney (AP | Getty)
"It was not surprising to any of us who were at the fundraiser," said Favreau, a member of the group of staffers often referred to as the "Obama bros" during their tenure in the White House.
"I was there. Clooney was exactly right, and every single person I talked to at the fundraiser thought the same thing, except for the people working for Joe Biden, or at least they didn't say that."
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President Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One on Dec. 8, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Favreau's blunt comments come just a day after he joined two of his fellow advisers and members of the "Obama bros" in dedicating the majority of their latest "Pod Save America" episode to ganging up on Biden following his poor performance in the first presidential debate and in a subsequent interview.
Immediately following the June 18 fundraiser where videos circulated of Biden being led off the stage by Obama, the Democratic Party along with the media launched a coordinated effort to dispel any questions about Biden's age.
"CLAIM: Biden froze onstage during his fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night and had to be led away by Obama," the Associated Press wrote. "THE FACTS: Biden paused amid cheers and applause as he exited the stage with his predecessor following an interview moderated by late-night host Kimmel."
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates described the moment as "the President taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds."
Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer attributed the negative characterizations as a distraction tactic from those who "are so scared of losing to Joe Biden, they’ll make anything up to distract from the fact that their candidate for president, Donald Trump, has been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault, committed financial fraud, and only cares about himself."
In response to a question at a press briefing the following Monday about videos that have been edited to make Biden appear frail or confused, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called such footage "cheap fakes video" that are "done in bad faith." She added that they demonstrate "everything that we need to know about how desperate, how desperate Republicans are here."
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on July 9, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
A source who helped organize, and attended, the fundraiser told the AP that there was nothing noteworthy about this moment and that Obama wanted to be "chummy" by walking offstage with Biden.
Lewis Kay, a spokesperson for Jimmy Kimmel, who was also at the event, called the claims spreading online "nonsense."
"Attendees in the front were shouting at him, and President Biden was trying to hear them," he wrote in an email to the AP. "It’s as simple as that."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Biden campaign for comment but did not receive a response.
Fox News Digital's Brandon Gillespie and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to
