As a major star and lifelong Democrat, the ‘actorvist’ wields significant influence over liberal politics in the US and abroad.
George Clooney has called on Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term as US president, to “step aside” to save democracy from Donald Trump. In an opinion piece for the New York Times, the Hollywood actor urged the Democratic Party to replace Biden with a more youthful candidate, warning: “We are not going to win anything with this president.”
Clooney’s article was a response to the presidential debate on June 28 when Biden stumbled over his words on many occasions and struggled to match the energy of Trump. The fallout from that debate has been catastrophic for the Democrats, fuelling concerns that Biden (at 81 years old) is not mentally or physically fit enough for a second term as president.
And, in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, popular support for the former president’s campaign is expected to rise significantly, making a Biden re-election bid even more difficult.
In recent weeks, various pundits and Democratic donors have issued warnings about the likelihood of a resounding Trump victory come November. But I would argue it’s Clooney who has had the biggest impact on discussions around Biden’s candidacy.
Read more: Kamala Harris: the top choice to replace Biden as Democratic nominee should he step aside
As a major star and lifelong Democrat, Clooney wields significant influence over liberal politics in the US and abroad. When he speaks about politics, the mainstream media tends to listen (for better and for worse). This latest intervention continues Clooney’s long record of campaigning, and strengthens his reputation as the “leading liberal” in Hollywood today.
Clooney is no stranger to political campaigning. In 2003, he spoke out against the US invasion of Iraq, accusing the then president, George W. Bush, of running the government like the fictional crime family in The Sopranos. This anti-war activism earned Clooney a degree of credibility among those on the left and centre-left, and he continued to weigh in on policy debates as the decade wore on.
In the 2010s, Clooney emerged as one of President Barack Obama’s most high-profile supporters. During the 2012 presidential race, Clooney hosted a series of Democratic fundraisers that generated more than US$15 million (£11.5 million) for Obama’s re-election campaign. These activities fed into reports about the pair’s close friendship, including widely circulated stories of Clooney and Obama going on “dinner dates” and playing basketball.
Beyond electoral politics, Clooney has participated in a wide range of humanitarian campaigns. In 2013, the actor explained that he uses a proportion of the money from his endorsement deals to help fund a satellite which “monitors for human rights abuses” on the border between Sudan and South Sudan.
Clooney’s credentials have been further reinforced by his marriage to the noted human rights lawyer, Amal Alamuddin. Following their marriage in 2014, the couple established the Clooney Foundation for Justice, an organisation which gathers evidence of “mass human rights abuses” and provides free legal advice to victims.
Like any celebrity who turns their hand to politics, Clooney has received his fair share of criticism. In 2006, the animated TV show South Park devoted an entire episode to making fun of Clooney’s liberal do-gooding, in which the “cloud of smug” from his Oscars acceptance speech threatens to engulf California.
More recent critiques of the actor have highlighted a conflict between his humanitarianism and his work with Nespresso, the Nestlé-owned coffee brand that employs him as an “ambassador”.
Despite these criticisms, Clooney is regularly described as an effective political operator. He has been praised for striking the right balance between serious messaging and more laid-back charm, thereby avoiding the “preachiness” that trips up many Hollywood liberals.
In the 21st century, only a handful of stars have been more prominently involved in Washington politics than Clooney. And even fewer have managed to combine their activism with such a broad level of appeal.
Clooney’s charitable and political activities sit within a longer tradition of Hollywood liberalism. His recent attempts to shape Democratic Party strategy recall those of earlier icons including the American actor and filmmaker Warren Beatty.
In his excellent book, Hollywood Left and Right, historian Steven J. Ross traces Beatty’s support for liberal causes both on- and off-screen. Between 1970 and 1988, when he was at the peak of his stardom, Beatty took lengthy breaks from acting and directing to work on three Democratic presidential campaigns – first for George McGovern in the 1972 election, then for Gary Hart in 1984 and 1988.
Since turning to politics in the early 2000s, Clooney has been consistently hailed as a “successor” to Beatty. Putting aside the fact that Beatty is far more radical politically, the comparison between him and Clooney makes a lot of sense.
Like Beatty, Clooney is a former heartthrob who transformed his image by combining his acting with critically successful stints behind the camera. Clooney has also spent so long skirting the edges of electoral politics that commentators routinely ask: “When will he run for office himself?”. The same questions were asked of Beatty two decades before.
But what most clearly connects Clooney and Beatty is their brand of populist liberalism. At their most effective, both stars have succeeded in framing liberal politics in a way that appeals to more than just staunch Democrats.
Part of Clooney’s effectiveness stems from his roles in hugely popular films and TV shows, which tend to cast the actor as a lovable rogue or a compelling antihero. It’s interesting to consider how the characters that Clooney plays on screen have fed into his off-screen campaigning – and if his latest intervention into electoral politics will cast him as hero or villain.
Joshua Gulam has written several articles and chapters about the on- and off-screen campaigning of Hollywood film stars, including figures such as Ben Affleck, Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon. He is currently working on a chapter that focuses on George Clooney's liberal politics for the Routledge Companion to Gender & Celebrity (forthcoming).
