George Clooney urges Joe Biden to drop out of presidential race

George Clooney has sternly demanded that Joe Biden withdraw from the US presidential race, hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dodged a question about whether Biden should continue to run for president.

The Hollywood actor and prominent Democratic fundraiser said the president has won many battles in his career, but “the one battle he can't win is against time.”

His comments came hours after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added to growing anxiety within the party by saying “time is running out” for Biden to decide whether to continue his campaign against Donald Trump after a disastrous debate late last month.

“That's a heartbreaking thing to say,” Clooney told The New York Times, but the Biden he met at a fundraiser three weeks ago was not “Big Joe” Biden of 2010. He's not even Joe Biden of 2020.

“He's the same man we saw in the debates,” he said. “Our party leaders need to stop saying 51 million Americans didn't see what we saw.”

“This is about age, nothing more,” he continued. “We can't win in November with this president.”

The growing opposition has surfaced during one of the most crucial weeks in Biden's struggling re-election campaign, with him hosting a key NATO summit in Washington.

When asked on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” if she would support President Biden's reelection, Pelosi replied, “I want him to do whatever he decides to do.”

“It's up to the president to decide whether he wants to run or not. Time is running out and we're all urging him to make the decision to run.”

Her response appeared to ignore Biden's repeated pledge on the same show Monday to continue campaigning.

The president has struggled to maintain morale within his party since his performance in the June 27 debate with President Donald Trump.

Since then, more than a dozen Democrats have suggested in private and public comments that Trump should abandon the campaign.

On Tuesday, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado became the first Senate Democrat to publicly voice opposition.

He did not call for Biden to resign, but said Trump would probably win the election in a “landslide victory.”

Others were more direct.

“I am asking him to declare that he will not run for reelection,” Rep. Miki Sherrill, D-North Jersey, said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged the pressure on Wednesday, saying, “I told everybody, just wait and see. You can tell somebody privately what you're thinking, but you don't have to make it public until we see how this week unfolds. But I'm very proud of the president.”