A new report has emerged online, revealing that former U.S. official, President Joe Biden did not recognize longtime friend George Clooney. This occurred at a fundraiser the actor hosted. This report stems from information revealed in a new book focusing on Biden and his mental decline. Clooney had been aware of Biden’s declining mental capabilities in recent years. This awareness motivated the actor to publish a New York Times op-ed. In the piece, he called for Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
How did George Clooney react to Joe Biden not recognizing him?
The New Yorker had published an excerpt from the book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson authored the book. The book detailed a shocking moment in which Joe Biden once failed to recognize George Clooney. The incident occurred at a star-studded fundraiser Clooney hosted in 2024.
Clooney was accompanied by fellow actor Julia Roberts for the event. He expected Biden to be tired after attending the G-7 leaders’ summit. However, he didn’t expect the interaction that would unfold between them.
The authors wrote, “The President appeared severely diminished, as if he’d aged a decade since Clooney last saw him, in December 2022.” Biden was accompanied by an aide who guided his movements by the arm.
The book then notes how the Ticket to Paradise actor “felt a knot form in his stomach” as Biden greeted and told him, “thank you for being here,” twice.
Biden’s aide had reminded him that Clooney was standing before him. In response, the president said, “Yeah, yeah.”
According to the book, the encounter left George Clooney visibly unsettled. This is despite him and President Biden exchanging pleasantries afterward. He was also reportedly “shaken to his core,” after a Biden aide had to once again clarify that Clooney was standing in front of the President. The book also documents an insider’s account of the exchange, which they personally witnessed.
“It was not O.K.,” the insider said. “That thing, the moment where you recognize someone you know—especially a famous person who’s doing a f***ing fund-raiser for you—it was delayed. It was uncomfortable.”
The book also mentions that the interaction troubled more than just Clooney. The authors had mentioned that other “high-profile attendees” found Biden to be “slow and almost catatonic” during the event that day.
Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on ComingSoon.
