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As Ed described earlier, there’s a new book about President Biden’s decline in office and the White House effort to cover it up coming out next week. I don’t have an advance copy unfortunately, but the authors wrote a story for the New Yorker today which is based on the book. The article describes a key moment last summer when Biden attended a star-studded fundraiser and wound up scaring the hell out of a lot of Democrats including his old friend George Clooney.
By the time the 2024 Presidential race had begun, the actor had known Biden for decades and had known him well for fifteen years. He had last seen Biden on December 4, 2022, when Clooney was in D.C. with his wife, Amal, to be celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors. Biden looked older, sure, but in the East Room of the White House, at the reception for the honorees, the President was playful and seemed cogent enough.
“We see Amal Clooney’s husband,” the President said, to laughter.
Biden held a big fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in March which set a record, $26 million raised at a single event. Clooney and Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to see if they could top it with a fundraiser in Hollywood. Clooney would have to fly from Italy to California and then head back to Italy on another plane before the event was even over. Julia Roberts agreed to co-host. The date was June 15, 2024, a Saturday.
Clooney arrived at the 7,000 seat theater hours early. He and Roberts were there to take photos with all of the big donors before the show began. Clooney was shocked when Biden arrived.
Biden hobbled out from around the corner.
