By Brandon Drenon and Bernd Debusmann at the NATO summit, BBC News, Washington
Getty ImagesGeorge Clooney has made a categorical call for Joe Biden to drop out of the race for the US presidency, hours after Democrat Nancy Pelosi sidestepped questions about whether he should continue.
The Hollywood actor and prominent Democratic fundraiser said the president has won many battles during his career, “but the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.”
His comments come after Mrs Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, joined the party’s growing concern, saying time was “running out” for Mr Biden, 81, to decide whether to stay in the race after his stumbling debate performance against Donald Trump.
The president has repeatedly said he is determined to remain the Democratic Party’s nominee and beat Trump, 78, in November.
Clooney wrote in The New York Times that it was “devastating to say,” but the Joe Biden he met at a fundraising event three weeks ago was not the Biden of 2010. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020,” the actor added.
“It was the same man we all saw in the debate,” Clooney said.
The fundraising event, co-hosted by Clooney in Los Angeles and also attended by Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand, raised a record-breaking $30 million (£23 million) for the Biden campaign in a single night.
The Biden camp hit back at the Hollywood star, with an anonymous source telling US media: “The president stayed for over 3 hours (at the fundraiser), while Clooney quickly took a photo and left.”
The president’s campaign also noted that when he attended the fundraiser, he had just arrived in Los Angeles from Italy, where he had attended the G7 summit.
In his op-ed, Clooney said: “Our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw.”
“It’s a question of age. Nothing more,” he continued. “We’re not going to win in November with this president.”
Clooney added that his concerns were consistent with those of “everyone” in Congress he had spoken with.
Asked to respond, Mr. Biden’s campaign pointed to a letter the president sent to congressional Democrats in which he said he was “firmly committed” to his candidacy and his desire to defeat Trump.
Yet public dissent continues to grow within Mr Biden’s party as he faces scrutiny as he hosts the NATO summit in Washington.
Ms Pelosi, a powerful voice among Democrats on Capitol Hill, appeared on Wednesday to ignore Mr Biden’s insistence that he was determined to move forward.
Asked whether he should stay in the race, she told MSNBC’s Morning Joe: “I want him to do whatever he decides to do.
“It is up to the president to decide whether he will run. We all encourage him to make that decision, because time is running out.”
Acknowledging the demands made of the president at the NATO summit, Pelosi told MSNBC: “I told everybody: Let’s just wait.
“Whatever you think, tell someone privately, but you don’t have to put it on the table until you see how things go this week. But I’m very proud of the president.”
A dozen Democratic lawmakers have suggested he abandon his campaign since his June 27 debate with Trump.
On Tuesday, Michael Bennet of Colorado became the first Democratic senator to publicly express his dissent.
While he stopped short of calling on Mr Biden to resign outright, he said Trump would win the election, perhaps by a “landfall”.
Pat Ryan, a New York congressman, later wrote on X: “For the sake of our country, for the sake of my two young children, I ask Joe Biden to step down.”
Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters he was “deeply concerned” about Mr Biden’s ability to win the election.
Biden’s campaign repeated the president’s statement that he would “see this race through to the end.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries plans to meet with Biden by Friday to discuss concerns raised by several members of the party in Congress.
Overall support among elected Democrats, however, remains strong.
Gavin Newsom, the California governor who Clooney named as a potential replacement, said he was still “all in” with Mr Biden.
The Congressional Black Caucus, a group of about 60 politicians and progressive members of the House of Representatives such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, have publicly endorsed Mr. Biden.
On Tuesday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, “I’m with Joe.” Axios, however, reports that Schumer has privately told donors he’s ready to dump Biden.
Questions about the Biden campaign also surfaced at the NATO summit in Washington DC.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was confident the United States would remain a committed member of the alliance no matter who occupies the White House next year, Mr Biden or Mr Trump, a NATO skeptic.
At a news conference, the BBC asked Mr Stoltenberg whether the 32 members of the alliance shared his optimism, despite concerns about Mr Biden’s candidacy.
“I’m not saying we can always ignore concerns,” Stoltenberg said. “But the more dangerous the world is, the more obvious it is that we need NATO.”
He added: “It is in the interest of all of us to remain united. That goes for the United States as well.”
Mr. Biden will give a rare solo news conference on Thursday and will record an interview with NBC News on Monday, which will air later that evening.
In the swing state of Pennsylvania, Democratic voters who spoke to the BBC on Wednesday had mixed feelings about Mr Biden.
Karren Gillchrist in Harrisburg said she strongly supports Mr. Biden because “he knows exactly what he’s talking about.”
But in Elizabethtown, Melissa Nash, working on her laptop in a coffee shop, said: “I’m torn because I’m not a Trump fan, but at the same time, we need someone strong to lead the country.”
Additional reporting by Rebecca Hartmann in Pennsylvania
