WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden was left reeling on Wednesday as actor and top Democratic supporter George Clooney urged him to drop his re-election bid, while party heavyweight Nancy Pelosi refused to endorse his candidacy.
As the 81-year-old sought to prove his leadership credentials at a NATO summit in Washington, domestic pressure was mounting on Biden to step down following his disastrous debate performance against Republican rival Donald Trump.
Biden has been trying to stem a rising tide of Democrats who say he cannot win in November, but Clooney's surprise intervention crushed efforts to turn the page on the crisis.
The Hollywood star wrote a devastating editorial in the New York Times just three weeks after co-hosting a major fundraising event in Los Angeles that raised nearly $30 million for Biden.
“It's devastating to say, but the Joe Biden I stood with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the 'big deal' Joe Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote.
“He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all saw in the debate.”
Clooney said Biden would lose the presidential election and Democrats would also lose both houses of Congress.
At the June 15 fundraiser in Los Angeles, co-hosted by Clooney and fellow movie star Julia Roberts, Biden looked tired as he took the stage alongside former President Barack Obama.
He had flown straight to California from the G7 summit in Italy and has since blamed jetlag and a cold for his disastrous performance in the June 27 televised debate with Donald Trump.
Fellow actor Michael Douglas spoke out Wednesday, saying he was “deeply, deeply” concerned about Biden's prospects.
In response to Clooney's editorial, the Biden campaign pointed to the president's remarks on Monday saying he was “committed” to running again in November.
Biden, who has been media-shy for much of his presidency, will also give another interview to NBC on Monday as he tries to sway voters.
'Overwhelmingly negative'
But while top Democrats gave him broad, if unenthusiastic, backing on Tuesday, Biden's efforts to stem the bleeding looked increasingly in vain.
Former House Speaker Pelosi, 86, was lukewarm about her candidacy, telling MSNBC that “it's up to the president to decide whether he's going to run.”
“We're all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running out,” she said, despite Biden's repeated promises last week to stay in the race.
Pelosi said Biden should delay any final decision until after NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington, which ends Thursday with what will be a closely watched news conference by the president.
NATO leaders appeared to rally around Biden as he greeted them upon arrival.
French President Emmanuel Macron, under pressure after calling an inconclusive snap election, gave a hug and a firm handshake to the older man at the podium.
Biden, who delivered a forceful speech pledging new air defenses for Ukraine as he opened the summit on Tuesday, delivered his opening remarks with only a couple of verbal stumbles.
But his every move from now until November will be closely watched for evidence of age-related frailty or ill health.
At least eight House Democrats have openly called on Biden not to seek reelection, with New York Congressman Pat Ryan jumping ship on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Michael Bennet of Colorado became the first Senate Democrat to publicly turn against the president, saying Biden would lose if he remained on the ticket.
“I think Donald Trump is on track to win this election, and perhaps win it by a landslide and carry the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Bennet said. CNN.
Meanwhile, former President Trump, 78, has returned to the warpath after a long hiatus from public events following the June 27 debate.
At a rally in Florida on Tuesday, he accused Biden of mounting the “biggest cover-up in political history” over his health.
Republicans also tightened the screws, with the party-controlled House Oversight Committee issuing subpoenas for three senior White House officials to testify about Biden's health, news outlet Axios reported.
