米俳優ジョージ・クルーニーさん、盟友バイデン氏に大統領選撤退要請

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】ジョー・バイデン米大統領（８１）の盟友で、民主党の主要な資金調達役でもある俳優のジョージ・クルーニーさん（６３）が１０日、バイデン氏に大統領選から撤退するよう強く求めた。（写真は俳優のジョージ・クルーニーさん）
　クルーニーさんは米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズへの寄稿で、「私はジョー・バイデンを愛している」「友人だと思っているし、信じている。だが、彼が勝てない唯一の戦いは、時間との戦いだ」と述べた。
　さらに、民主党はバイデン氏を大統領候補として掲げる限り、「１１月（の選挙）に勝利することはないだろう」と明言、上院の多数派を失い、下院でも多数派を奪還できないとの見方を示した。
　「これは私だけの意見ではない。私が個人的に話をした上院議員、下院議員、州知事全員の意見だ」「これは年齢の問題だ。それ以上のものではない。しかし、それを覆すこともできない」と続けた。
　クルーニーさんの呼び掛けに対し、数日前に同じくバイデン氏に撤退を要求した民主党支持者の映画監督ロブ・ライナーさんが即座に応じた。
　ライナー監督は「わが友ジョージ・クルーニーは、私たちの多くが言い続けてきたことをはっきり述べてくれた。民主主義は存亡の危機に直面している。反撃するにはもっと若い人が必要だ。ジョー・バイデンは身を引くべきだ」とＸ（旧ツイッター）に投稿した。
　「生涯民主党員」を自認するクルーニーさんは先月、ロサンゼルスでスターを集めた資金調達イベントをバイデン氏と共催。バラク・オバマ元大統領も参加した。バイデン陣営によると、このイベントでは過去最高の２８００万ドル（約４５億円）が集まった。
　だが、クルーニーさんは「言いたくはないが、３週間前の資金調達イベントで一緒にいたジョー・バイデンは、２０１０年のジョー・バイデンではなかった」「２０２０年のジョー・バイデンでさえなかった。まさにわれわれ全員が、討論会で見た通りの人物だった」と訴え、討論会の不振はたまたま体調が悪かっただけだというバイデン氏の主張に真っ向から異議を唱えた。
　さらに「民主党員であるわれわれは、尊敬する大統領がエアフォース・ワン（大統領専用機）から降りたり、台本にない質問に答えるためにマイクの前に戻ったりするのを見るたびに、固唾をのんだり、音量を下げたりしている」とも記した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/07/11-17:04）

Actor George Clooney, one of the Democratic Party's leading fundraisers, on Wednesday made an impassioned plea for US President Joe Biden to end his faltering reelection campaign.
Clooney -- a member of the Hollywood elite that provides key support to the Democrats -- joined a growing list of public figures calling for Biden, 81, to step aside after his faltering debate performance against Donald Trump last month.
I love Joe Biden, Clooney wrote in the New York Times. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him... But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.
With Biden at the top of the ticket, the Oscar-winner said, Democrats are not going to win in November, will lose control of the Senate, and won't gain a majority in the House of Representatives.
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, Clooney wrote.
This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed.
Clooney's call was quickly backed by Hollywood director Rob Reiner, a voiceful Democrat who also demanded days ago that Biden bow out.
My friend George Clooney has clearly expressed what many of us have been saying... Democracy is facing an existential threat. We need someone younger to fight back. Joe Biden must step aside, wrote Reiner on X.
A self-described lifelong Democrat, the 63-year-old Clooney last month co-hosted a star-studded fundraiser with Biden in Los Angeles, which also featured former president Barack Obama.
The Biden campaign said the event brought in a record $28 million.
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, referencing a famous hot-mic clip from Biden's vice presidency.
He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate, Clooney said -- a direct challenge to Biden's claim that his poor debate showing was a one-off.
As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, who we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question.
Actor Michael Douglas, who also hosted a Hollywood fundraiser for Biden in April, said Clooney had a valid point when asked about the editorial during an appearance Wednesday on The View TV chat show.
Douglas did not call for Biden to step aside, but said he was deeply, deeply concerned.
I adore the guy... and this just happens to be one of these elections that is just so crucial, he said, adding I don't worry necessarily today or tomorrow, but a year down the line, I worry.
- Not a 'cult of personality' -
Clooney joined critics who have likened Democrats' hesitancy to jettison Biden to the Republican Party's unshakeable loyalty to Trump.
We love to talk about how the Republican Party has ceded all power... to a single person who seeks to hold on to the presidency, and yet most of our members of Congress are opting to wait and see if the dam breaks, he said.
But with several lawmakers already openly calling for Biden to step aside and more expressing worries, the dam has broken, Clooney said, asking more come forward.
Top Democrats -- Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi -- and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.
Clooney brushed aside worries that Biden's exit would create chaos four months before an election in which the Democrats hope to keep Trump from power, and did not endorse a replacement candidate.
We Democrats have a very exciting bench. We don't anoint leaders or fall sway to a cult of personality; we vote for a president, he said.
The party should hear from contenders such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and others, Clooney wrote, then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out.
Clooney did not say whether he would withhold funding until Biden leaves, as Abigail Disney -- an heiress to the Disney media fortune -- did last week, along with several other wealthy donors.