As the Democrats began the blame game over their emphatic rout in November 2024, George Clooney’s name began to appear.
Biden became the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024. Like all Democratic primaries, the contest was rigged, with challengers such as Robert Kennedy Jr. sidelined. But still, Biden secured 3,949 delegates and around 15 million primary votes.
Despite this, Clooney led a coup against Biden with an NYT column urging Biden to step aside. In days, the media joined the Clooney-led coup, and Biden was unceremoniously replaced with his bumbling deputy.
Clooney hopes memories of his coup aren’t as fresh and it’s time to rehabilitate him as a likable democracy-loving liberal.
Since he is a Democrat, he didn’t engage a PR firm. He chose CBS News, who handed him a segment on “60 Minutes.”
The segment opens with ‘nice guy’ Clooney giggling and complaining ‘it’s cold’ as he enters the theatre where the set of his play, based on his 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, is under construction. As a staffer attaches a mic to Clooney, he quips, ‘this is how they treat a two-time sexiest man alive’, clearly an attempt to remind viewers of his past ‘glory.’
Clooney then cordially greets his interviewer Jon Wertheim with an informal ‘Hey Jon.’ The goal is to push the narrative that despite being a Hollywood star, Clooney is easygoing. The exchange revealed that Wertheim is Clooney’s ally, and that this is a PR exercise
Next, Clooney casually crosses over the theatre chairs to be seated for his interview. The goal is to push the narrative that Clooney is affable and casual with no starry airs. To ram the point across, Wertheim’s voiceover declared ‘Ever the everyman, he doesn’t stand on ceremony; he hurdles over it.”
Next, ‘nice guy’ Clooney confessed to being nervous about appearing on stage.
Clooney played Edward R. Murrow’s producer, Fred Friendly, in the 2006 film, but plays Murrow in the stage adaptation. Clooney said that Murrow had gravitas, which he lacked at 42 years old when he made the film. The implication is that he now possesses gravitas. This unsubtle PR exercise where nothing is left unsaid.
Next, we see a friendly camaraderie between Clooney and his co-writer of the play, Grant Heslov, during which Clooney jokes about not knowing how to operate a computer.
Next is the table read of the play where ‘nice guy’ Clooney is depicted hugging and having friendly exchanges with cast members.
Clooney reads, “When the other three estates fail, when the judiciary and the executive and the legislative branches fail us, the fourth estate has to succeed. Has to succeed — as “60 Minutes” is here right now on our first day.”
The target, by implication, is the Trump administration, even though it was the Biden administration that compromised all four estates as it waged war against its foremost political opponent.
Clooney then claimed that press-freedom is under attack because “ABC has just settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration and CBS News is also doing the same.
Now for facts.
Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after Stephanopoulos repeatedly slandered him claiming that Trump was “found liable for rape” and “defaming the victim of that rape.” ABC News realized they had no chance of winning, hence, they settled.
Next, Clooney’s PR agent, Wertheim, claimed the following via voiceover:
“President Trump has lodged a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS, making the unfounded allegation that 60 Minutes engaged in election interference. CBS has since filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit… all this as the network’s parent company, Paramount, is trying to close a merger deal, which requires approval from the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission.”
replied with a word salad. However, when “60 Minutes” aired the interview, Harris’s answer was terse and coherent. The goal of the edit was to present Harris in a favorable light when their function was to present the unvarnished facts. This was election interference.
Clooney then claimed there are “parallels between the play and these convulsive times we live in today, disinformation is one critical distinction… Although McCarthy would try to pose things that — he’d show up a blank piece of paper and say, ‘I’ve got a list of names.”
A concurring Wertheim replied, “You and I can agree or disagree, but if we can’t reach a consensus that this chair is brown…” but “we’re in trouble” because facts are no longer immutable.
Once again, Clooney and Wertheim conveniently forget that the Democrats have been the purveyors of major disinformation campaigns such as the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, the January 6th Insurrection hoax, etc. They also ran disinformation campaigns about the origins of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccines, and the effectiveness of masks.
During the Biden presidency, the Democrats claimed Biden was sharp and functional, although it was obvious that his mental and cognitive functions were compromised. When they wanted to dethrone Biden, they revealed the facts about Biden. Once Biden was sidelined, they continued to overlook one of the biggest scandals in U.S. politics, that the president was a puppet being run by unelected agents.
Clooney’s PR agent Wertheim then reminded viewers about Clooney being an “A-lister for 30 years.”
Apart from the Ocean series, which also had stars such as Brad Pitt and Matt Damon and ensemble movies such as The Perfect Storm, Clooney hasn’t delivered any megahits. Among the many box office bombs he appeared in was Batman and Robin (1997), where a consensus was formed that he was the worst Batman to ever grace any screen. Clooney may be a good actor and a filmmaker, but the box office numbers reveal he is no star.
In a cringe-inducing exchange, Wertheim begins telling Clooney, “You were in the Sexiest Man of the Year phase” and immediately adds” — not that you’re not sexy now.” Clooney then attempts self-deprecating humor with “That’s okay. I’m not hurt, Jon.”
To ensure variety, we hear from other cast members of the play lavish blandishments at Clooney.
Wertheim’s voice-over tells us that Clooney is a family man now, while Clooney declares, “I’m 63 years old. I’m not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men. I’m not doing romantic films anymore.” The grapes are probably sour for Clooney.
A key portion of the exchange is when Wertheim asks Clooney about his “pointed essay calling on Joe Biden not to seek reelection on account of his age.”
Clooney responded by complimenting himself, saying that he was “raised to tell the truth,” and that he saw Biden up close during his fundraiser, and he realized Biden’s decline. Clooney then attacked his party for “cowardice” for not speaking against Biden while describing himself as the fearless truth-teller.
The interviewer didn’t ask him questions about his silence through the Biden presidency, where it was obvious that Biden was non compos mentis.
The interviewer didn’t ask Clooney about the allegation that his actions were due to personal considerations. Clooney’s wife, Alamuddin, was among the legal experts who recommended that the chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court seek arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The Washington Post claimed that Clooney was livid that the Biden administration considered placing sanctions on the ICC, which could potentially include Amal. Sanctions mean Amal couldn’t travel to the U.S.
Propaganda works only when it does not appear as propaganda.
To rehabilitate himself, Clooney needed to exude humility. Perhaps Clooney could have thanked his fans or Democrat party workers.
Perhaps he could have conceded his mistakes and explicitly wished Biden well or something to make amends. Instead, his narcissism got the better of him, and he appeared self-righteous and arrogant. The effort to appear likable made his presentation cringe-inducing. This is amazing because Clooney is a screenwriter; he should know better how to make a convincing case.
Image: AT via Magic Studio
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