George Clooney stated that he loves it “scary” that Donald Trump could be elected president again in 2024, and claimed that he witnessed firsthand the former president’s unsavory behavior around the time of his “Apprentice” popularity.
“I didn’t think people would vote [in 2016] for someone who was so deeply flawed,”Clooney shared his thoughts with Chris Wallace HBO Max Talk Show. “[Trump] was the guy that came to the bars and asked me about which cocktail waitress was single, you know, that’s who he was.”
When asked by Wallace if he was asked such questions by Trump in the ’90s, Clooney said that it happened in the 2000s.
“There’s this part of you that just goes, well, that guy shouldn’t be president, but I was wrong. And he was and our democracy, I believe, paid a price certainly around the world. And I worry about the possibility [of his re-election.] I don’t think it’s as good as some people are afraid, but I do worry about it,”He said.
Clooney lamented the situation “coarsening of America,”Calling how “everyone jumps up and down and cheers when somebody’s owned”And how it has seeped into politics, such as the transfer of migrants from blue states to Republican governors.
“’Let’s send them without any warning, you know, because it’s fun to own the liberals. We’ll send them to Martha’s Vineyard, you know, where Obama’s people [are] and we’ll send them to the Vice President’s house with no warning, no health, no, nothing,’” he said, mocking some conservatives’ talking points. “So I look at where we are in this sort of coarsening of our discourse, and I find it to be worrying.”
Clooney claimed that his worries about politics were one reason he decided to make romantic comedies again with “Ticket to Paradise,”A film that reunites him “Ocean’s Eleven” co-star Julia Roberts as a divorced couple who travel to Bali to try to stop their daughter’s wedding.
“I got sent the script and, you know, we’ve had a lot of dark things going on in the world. And I always feel that films try to reflect that often. They’re usually late because it takes a couple of years to make a film,”Clooney spoke. “It felt like we all needed a break. I needed a break. I needed it to be a little carefree.”
You can read the entire interview between Wallace and Clooney on “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace”You can stream it on HBO Max.