Jimmy Kimmel wasted no time in prodding George Clooney about his New York Times op-ed calling on President Biden to drop out of the presidential race, but Clooney himself largely downplayed the impact of it, warning that “it could still go badly.”
To kick off the Tuesday night interview, Kimmel first asked Clooney about his relationship with Oprah, who also happened to be on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday. More specifically, Kimmel wanted to know if Clooney has ever encouraged her to go into politics (yes, he has).
But from there, Kimmel took his opening, diving right into “the big thing”: Clooney’s op-ed.
“Oh, you’re gonna get right into that,” Clooney said with a laugh, immediately joking that they only “have time for one more question.”
Speaking seriously, Kimmel noted how much impact the essay seemed to have, though Clooney himself was reluctant to say it really changed anything, even audibly scoffing at the idea.
“The bottom line is that it’s very hard to let go of power and President Biden did something really extraordinary,” Clooney said. “Really extraordinary. And so, honestly I really do think that that’s what should be focused on. Really.”
Kimmel kept pressing though, noting that writing the piece was a big swing, and that it’s good things turned out the way they did, because it could’ve gone pretty poorly in the other direction.
“It could still go badly,” Clooney retorted.
At that, Kimmel wondered if the actor has considered what might happen if Donald Trump does win — specifically if he might use the government to come for Clooney himself, after Trump’s angry Truth Social screed about the op-ed.
“Yeah I have but I just, I’m comforted in the fact that he’s coming after you first,” Clooney joked.
You can watch the full interview in the video above.
