Continuing his promotional tour for his new movie “The Midnight Sky,” George Clooney once again delved into politics to praise Joe Biden as the man for the moment.
Speaking with USA Today, Clooney said that America is now in “much better shape” given Joe Biden’s coming presidency.
“Do you think America is now rocketing in the right direction, or might we still have to deal with some pesky meteor showers?” asked entertainment writer Brian Truitt.
“Well, we got some meteor showers coming, I think. We’re playing in some dangerous waters when you’re fomenting violence,” he said. “There’s a lot of really good, straight-forward public servants who’s — right now, it’s rhetoric, but it’s getting worse. There’s a chance that it could get dangerous.”
Clooney added that he believed America’s penchant for political tribalism made the situation worse before praising Joe Biden’s compassion.
“I feel like we’re in so much better shape because I do think this: Moments meet the man or woman. And this moment is Joe Biden’s moment,” he said. “He is a compassionate, kind man. And we’re going to need that after we’ve lost probably … close to 400,000 people by the time we get this [pandemic] in our rear-view mirror. And jobs and careers and how many other people were sick.”
“We’re going to need compassion through this and [Biden] is every bit of that, on top of being a very smart, wise guy, wise man,” he said. “But I think that this is going to be a really effective presidency because of that. He’s going to have a hard time in the Senate.”
George Clooney has been wading heavily into current events in recent weeks due to the Netflix release of his sci-fi adventure “The Midnight Sky.” Speaking with Howard Stern recently, he admonished Americans who refuse to wear a mask.
“Your freedom is this: You’re free to smoke until your lungs turn black, but you can’t do it on the bus. And you’re free to drink until your liver comes out your a**, but you can’t drink and then get behind the wheel of a car,” he added.
Clooney said that the wearing of masks could save thousands of lives until the vaccine rolls out.
“There have to be certain rules,” he asserted. “This is one that says: Put on a f***ing mask and we’ll get through this. We’ve got vaccines coming — let’s save another 60,000 lives before the vaccines.”
In early December, speaking at the Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit after several stars paid tribute to his film career and philanthropy, Clooney declared that the Trump “dark ages” are over.
“We have faced an overwhelming threat that has affected people all over the world. But what I want to say to all of you is that we’re going to get through it. This scourge that’s disrupted so many lives, it’s terrified us, wrecked our economy, left us feeling like there’s no hope,” said Clooney.
Clooney even went on to joke that Trump’s presidency was worse than the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We will soon say goodbye to the dark ages. Goodbye to fear. Goodbye to doubt. Goodbye to the anxiety. Once this is over and Trump’s out of office, we should probably do something about COVID, too,” he added.