Actor George Clooney has revealed why he withdrew his support for former President Joe Biden, citing a close-up encounter last year that left him disheartened. Clooney, a lifelong Democrat, made the admission during a candid interview with "60 Minutes" and in a New York Times opinion piece. This comes after he and fellow Hollywood elites helped raise $30 million for Biden at a Los Angeles fundraiser.

"I was raised to tell the truth," Clooney said, emphasizing his journalistic roots. He explained that his up-close observations of Biden at the fundraiser prompted him to write an essay urging the president to step out of the 2024 race. "I feel as if there were a lot of profiles in cowardice in my party through all of that. And I was not proud of that," he added.

The essay followed Biden's lackluster debate performance last June, which sent ripples through the Democratic Party. Clooney was blunt in his assessment. "The Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020," Clooney wrote, portraying a stark contrast in Biden's demeanor and energy.

Under growing party pressure, Biden eventually withdrew from the race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, who later lost the election to former President Donald Trump.

Clooney also used his "60 Minutes" appearance to promote his Broadway debut in "Good Night, and Good Luck," where he plays legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow. The play draws parallels between Murrow’s fight against McCarthyism and the challenges journalists face today, particularly under what Clooney described as the Trump administration’s antagonism toward the press. "Governments don't like the freedom of the press. They never have," Clooney said bluntly. "And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal."

This interview didn’t escape Trump’s notice. The former president dismissed it as a "puff piece" and doubled down on his legal battles with media outlets. Trump recently settled a defamation suit with ABC for $15 million and is pursuing $20 billion in damages from CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global, over alleged election interference involving an interview with Harris.

Despite Trump’s criticism, Clooney stood firm in celebrating the role of journalism as the "fourth estate." He called on reporters to act courageously in an age where other branches of government, in his view, are failing their duties.

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George Clooney Drops Biden Support, Slams Democratic 'Cowardice'