Hunter Biden lashed out at actor and Democratic mega-donor George Clooney, blaming him for triggering his father’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. In a fiery interview with Channel 5, the former president’s son did not hold back, calling Clooney’s public criticism a betrayal.
“Fk him and everybody around him,” Hunter said, reacting to Clooney’s op-ed in The New York Times that urged Democrats to replace Joe Biden as their nominee. “I don’t have to be fking nice.”
Referring to director Quentin Tarantino’s comment that Clooney is “not a real actor,” Hunter added, “He’s a brand. That’s all.”
Clooney’s July 2024 column titled “I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee” argued the then-81-year-old president no longer had the stamina or clarity he once did. The piece helped spark a wave of concern among party donors and insiders. Less than two weeks later, Biden dropped out of the race.
In the interview and a subsequent podcast with former DNC chair Jaime Harrison, Hunter questioned Clooney’s influence. “Do you think some voter in Green Bay gives a shit what George Clooney thinks? Why should he decide anything about my father’s career? What gives him the right to take out a full-page hit piece in the Times?”
Hunter went further, suggesting Clooney’s motivations weren’t just political—but personal. He claimed Clooney was angry that Joe Biden criticized the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which had been supported by Clooney’s wife, human rights attorney Amal Clooney.
“He was bitching to White House senior staff,” Hunter said. “He was very, very angry that my dad didn’t pay homage to her or something.”
The younger Biden also acknowledged that his father had a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, blaming exhaustion and medication. “He was tired as shit,” Hunter said. “They gave him Ambien to sleep, and he looked like a deer in the headlights on stage. It played into every f**king narrative.”
Hunter also addressed past rumors about cocaine found in a West Wing locker in 2023, flatly denying it belonged to him. “Why would I bring cocaine into the White House and stick it in a cubby near the Situation Room?” he asked, noting he’s been sober since June 2019.
The FBI recently reopened the investigation into the cocaine incident following Trump’s return to office in January 2025.
Clooney has not responded publicly to Hunter Biden’s remarks.
