‘I Will if He Does’ : George Clooney Claps Back at Donald Trump Over Claim He’s a ‘Fake Movie Actor’ Who Should ‘Get Out of Politics and Go Back to TV’

George Clooney has finally responded to Donald Trump‘s attempted takedown of him after he wrote a viral op-ed for The New York Times asking Joe Biden to drop out of the election in order to give the Democratic party a real chance at defeating Trump, who responded in a tirade calling Clooney a “fake movie actor.”

“So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time. “He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are. What does Clooney know about anything?…Clooney should get out of politics and go back to television. Movies never really worked for him!!!”

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Jimmy Kimmel read Trump’s reaction to Clooney during their interview on his ABC late night talk show, to which Clooney simply clapped back: “I will if he does. That’s a trade-off I’d do.” The studio audience roared in approval.

Clooney, whoco-hosted a huge Hollywood fundraiserfor Biden in June that raised a record $28 million, published his op-ed following Biden’s disastrous performance in the first 2024 presidential debate against Trump.

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man -

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we all witnessed at the debate.”

“This is about age. Nothing more,” Clooney added. “But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”

Biden did end up dropping out of the race, opening the door for Kamala Harris to take over as the Democratic nominee for president against Trump. Clooney praised the decision in a statement to Variety.

“President Biden has shown what true leadership is,” Clooney said. “He’s saving democracy once again. We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.”

Speaking to Variety on the red carpet of his new Apple TV+ crime thriller “Wolfs,” Clooney said that he’s “feeling very hopeful” about the upcoming election. “Momentum is a big deal,” he added, “so I’m feeling hopeful.”

Watch Clooney’s full interview on Jimmy Kimmel live in the video below.

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