Donald Trump fumed over George Clooney’s 60 Minutes interview on Sunday and claimed that the “failed political pundit” dumped former President Joe Biden “like a dog.”
Clooney, a longtime Democrat who endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, appeared on the CBS program on Sunday to promote his Broadway debut, where he stars as pioneering journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night and Good Luck.
The two-time Academy Award winner told correspondent Jon Wertheim about his decision to call on Biden to step aside from the 2024 race last summer before taking aim at the Trump administration.
In a late-night Truth Social tirade, the president criticized Clooney’s politics and acting prowess.
“Why would the now highly discredited 60 Minutes be doing a total ‘puff piece’ on George Clooney, a second-rate movie ‘star,’ and failed political pundit,” Trump said. “He fought hard for Sleepy Joe’s election and then, right after the Debate, dumped him like a dog.
Then, Trump turned his attention to his former Democratic rival whom he beat at the ballot box in November before his return to the White House earlier this year.
“Later, I assume under orders from the Obama camp, pushed all out for ‘Kamala,’ only to soon realize that that was not going to work out to well,” he continued. “60 Minutes even fraudulently inserted Fake answers into her disastrous interview, aired just before Election Day, in one of the most embarrassing and dishonest events in broadcast history…
“And now George Clooney again? His press agent should be making a fortune!!!,” he concluded.
In his discussion with Jon Wertheim, Clooney claimed that both conservative and liberal governments “don’t like” press freedom, stating there were parallels between what was happening in real life and the play. He also pointed to Trump’s ongoing lawsuit with CBS and settlement with ABC News.
“When the other three estates fail, when the judiciary and the executive and the legislative branches fail us, the fourth estate has to succeed,” he said. “ABC has just settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration. And CBS News is in the process… We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine or use corporations to make journalists smaller.”
“Governments don’t like the freedom of the press. They never have. And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you’re on,” Clooney added.
The actor also reflected on his decision to write a New York Times op-ed in July last year calling on Biden to step off the Democratic ticket after he stumbled over his words during a debate against Trump a month earlier.
Clooney’s comments came just weeks after he headlined a star-studded fundraiser that raked in $28 million for Biden’s reelection campaign.
“I was raised to tell the truth,” Clooney, whose father was a veteran journalist and anchorman, said. “I had seen the president up close for this fundraiser, and I was surprised. And so I feel as if there was a lot of profiles in cowardice in my party through all of that. And I was not proud of that.”
“And I also believed I had to tell the truth,” he concluded.