Obama must tell Biden to go – his words could prove to be the coup de grâce that America urgently needs
AS malfunctions go, Joe Biden 2024 is up there with that time Superman was exposed to synthetic kryptonite and started drinking heavily and being all evil.
It has not been pretty watching Sleepy Joe in action these past weeks.
One day the 81-year-old US President is stiff as a statue, staring into space as if watching a movie only he can see, the next he’s introducing Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin”.
Biden is kaput. New balls, please!
But just when you thought his batteries were about to run out, help arrived, like good Superman, just in the nick of time.
Step forward George Clooney, double Oscar winner, King of Nespressoland.
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Gorgeous George declared he had had enough of his old buddy Biden’s doddery antics and ordered him to step down for the good of the country.
“I love Joe Biden,” he wanted us to know . . . then came the BUT: “We are not going to win in November with this President.”
This moment of celebrity clarity, in an article for the snooty New York Times newspaper, was seen as a significant intervention.
You see, George, who has ploughed hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Democrat party and recently hosted a $28million fundraiser for Biden, is one of the “clever” stars.
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He’s no Hollywood himbo smashing up cars and flexing his muscles in action flicks like Fast & Furious.
He knows what it’s like to be a Democratic presidential candidate, darling, because he’s played one, in 2011’s The Ides Of March.
No, George makes the kind of smart movies that win all the awards . . . and nobody watches.
So when he speaks, we should all listen, god- dammit!
But Biden is listening and he’s having none of it.
In fact, all it seems to have done so far is harden his resolve.
He brushed off Dr Ross from ER’s helpful “advice” and carried on chatting to Sir Keir Starmer about “soccer”.
It was almost as if having a prominent luvvie speak some hard truths and pull their endorsement for him was just the thing he needed to double down on his commitment to stay in office and “finish this job”.
I dare say he has extracted similar resolve from the other stars who have also called for his head, a line-up even the leftie Guardian newspaper described as “limousine liberals”.
So far they include filmmaker Michael Moore, author Stephen King and director Rob Reiner.
TV hosts Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, and actor Michael Douglas, have also expressed concern.
Biden knows that there is nothing more insufferable than the complaints of leftie celebrities, however right they may be.
‘Opened the floodgates’
Others will inevitably join the chorus now George has opened the floodgates.
Yet the more stars who moan about him, the more resolute he is likely to get.
And the more respect he may get from traditional Republican supporters sick to the back teeth of smarmy stars looking down their noses at them.
If celebrity Democrats really want Joe Biden to step down they should pipe down, stop daring him to defy them and let the exasperated party machine deal with its increasingly incompetent leader.
Thankfully, some have already broken rank and called for Biden to withdraw — including 16 Democrat representatives and one senator.
But one genuinely powerful name is so far absent from this revolt — at least publicly.
President Barack Obama, still the hero of the American Left and a massively influential voice, is understood to be very much in the background, a puppet master even, secretly working behind the scenes to dislodge Biden, despite having recently backed him.
Some suggest he could even have put George up to his New York Times stunt — or at the very least nodded it through.
It is time for Obama to come clean.
If he wants Joe to go, he should say so.
His words, not George’s, could prove to be the coup de grâce that America — and the whole of the free world — urgently needs.
WEDDY TO RULE THE UK
SIR Keir Starmer may suffer from a distinct lack of “rizz”, as my kids would say (that’s charisma to you and I).
But the PM certainly has one redeeming quality outside of his evident devotion to public service – he’s a big fan of The Wedding Present, who also happen to be my favourite band.
He revealed his top track by the Eighties indie outfit (who are, thankfully, still going) is My Favourite Dress, a pitch-perfect howl of jealousy and despair.
I can just imagine Sir Keir pogoing around to it at the student union in Leeds, where he went to university and “The Weddoes” formed.
The group could well become the Labour house band, as not only is Keir a fan, but so are Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, who both gave singer Dave Gedge a tour of Parliament.
I’d be delighted for The Wedding Present to conjure up a new anthem for Labour if it silenced that D:Ream garbage that soundtracked Tony Blair’s ascent to power.
With Dave and Co in charge, things can only get better.
MAGICAL MAINOO
GOOD luck to the England lads against Spain tomorrow night, especially Man United ace Kobbie Mainoo.
The midfielder, 19, has become our star player and I predict a cracking final for him.
It just goes to show that often it’s the quiet ones who are the real deal.
Kobbie’s been too busy scoring a 96 per cent pass completion rate this tournament to indulge in any grandstanding.
So whatever happens in Berlin, England’s midfield is now considerably more future-proof.
I SEE the Wireless Festival in London this weekend has banned clothing that could be interpreted as “cultural appropriation”.
Given rain is forecast for today, does this now mean only Scottish festival-goers can wear a Mackintosh?
TRANS BID OFF KEY, SI
SIMON COWELL may not look much like Simon Cowell any more but his ambition remains the same.
Sadly, his latest bid to find the “new One Direction” seems to be only heading in one direction – south.
Hardly anyone turned up to auditions for his new Netflix talent trawl in Liverpool.
For the YouTube generation, that’s perhaps no surprise.
Who wants their pop chops judged by some bloke old enough to be their granddad?
To help drum up numbers, he’s now calling for transgender and “gender non-conforming males” to apply.
The official line is that Simon has done this to ensure this new assault on our ears is suitably “progressive”.
But does the pop world really need such positive discrimination?
Brilliant gender-bending singers have graced the charts for decades, from David Bowie and Boy George to modern acts Lil Nas X and Sam Smith.
Even The Brits has binned off its male and female categories.
And that’s before we get to the Eurovision Song Contest, won this year by a Swiss singer who declared: “I don’t identify as a man or a woman.”
The truth is, most people couldn’t give a monkey’s who sings a song, as long as it’s good.
An artist’s sexual persuasion, gender identity or pronouns matter not one jot.
HOW about this for a trouser snake?
Some bloke was caught this week smuggling 104 live snakes into China – in his strides!
The slippery fella was rumbled in Hong Kong with six bags of the beasts in his pockets, though thankfully none was poisonous.
Presumably he was subjected to the usual pat down by security when the haul was found.
I’ve endured the same intimate search at airports for decades but, in a significant blow to my masculine pride, not once has anyone suspected I was concealing a snake.
DIY JUST GOT PERRY INTERESTING
BEEN having a nightmare trying to put up some shelves at home.
I just don’t seem to have the correctly decorated tools for the job.
Not a single one of my spanners and screwdrivers is encrusted with jewels and the only diamonds I can find in my toolbox are on the tip of a drill bit.
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So it looks like I’ll need to log on to Taskrabbit to find myself an expert.
Unless any of you know anyone who might be up to the job?