MOVIE NEWS – Hollywood Democratic Party donors like George Clooney and Reed Hastings are demanding that Joe Biden step aside to prevent a Trump victory.

Politics and Hollywood almost always intersect when it comes to an election year. Many industry heavyweights are sparing no expense or effort in supporting their chosen candidate. They take a profound role in the extraction of campaign revenues. Following the first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, more and more Democratic Party supporters feel the need to speak out. Biden performed poorly in the recent crucial debate. A number of his high-profile, celebrity supporters have now shifted gears and are suggesting he should drop his bid to run for president again to prevent Trump from re-entering the White House.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood donors have begun withdrawing from the Biden campaign. Among others, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, media mogul Barry Diller and Disney heiress Abigail Disney dropped out. Hastings is known to have donated more than $20 million to support the Democratic Party. His sentiments seem to resonate with many who are withdrawing their support:

“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.”

George Clooney is the latest celebrity to withdraw his endorsement of Joe Biden

More prominent stars and creators are also voicing that Biden should step aside. George Clooney, who has been a known supporter of the Democratic Party and who initially wrote a fundraising email to Biden, has now made a significant U-turn. He wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which he bluntly called on Biden to step down. Acknowledging that Biden may have been “tired” or had a cold during the debate, he made it clear that it cannot be ignored that the current president is not the man who won the 2020 election.

“Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw.”

“We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign. The George Stephanopoulos interview only reinforced what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, who we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question.”

Other Hollywood creators have suggested that Biden step down. Among them is Lost showrunner Damon Lindelof, who wrote an essay suggesting that Democrats freeze all financial support to the party until Biden drops out of the race. As well as Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who also suggested that by withdrawing the money, the campaign would realize it was time for someone else to step in for the current president.

Among the celebrity backers who used to speak out with their words and their wallets but have now gone silent are mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, director Steven Spielberg, late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and actress Julia Roberts. Filmmaker Rob Reiner and author Stephen King also called for Biden to step down. King recently stated on X:

“Joe Biden has been a fine president, but it’s time for him—in the interests of the America he so clearly loves—to announce he will not run for re-election.”

Despite calls to step aside in favour of a more likely candidate, President Biden confirmed his decision to continue running as the Democratic nominee.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline