JUST IN: Obama ‘Greenlit’ Clooney’s Shocking Op-Ed Calling For Biden To Step Aside

Evidence is emerging that former President Barack Obama gave the green light to actor George Clooney before he submitted a devastating op-ed to the New York Times calling for President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid.

“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said as much on Thursday, claiming the 44th president is believed to be “working behind the scenes” to “orchestrate” Biden’s departure from the race. The revelation comes from a scoop by Politico revealing that Clooney spoke privately with the former president ahead of the piece being published earlier this week.

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“I’ll say one thing that we do have to underline here so viewers can follow what’s going on behind the scenes, is the Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” Scarborough claimed next to a stunned Mika Brzezinski.

WATCH:

Politico’s morning newsletter outlined the details of the private Clooney-Obama call in which the Hollywood A-lister gave Obama a heads up that he was about to rescind his support for President Biden’s campaign. Just weeks earlier, Clooney hosted a star-studded gala where both Biden and Obama raked in tens of millions of dollars for the Biden campaign. Even then, President Obama could be seen gingerly holding his former vice president by the arm and slowly guiding him stage right in the dim auditorium, another reminder that, at 81, Biden’s stamina for another four years remains a central point of discussion in the race.

According to the outlet, Clooney told Obama that Biden’s appearance at the L.A. fundraiser was “the same man we all witnessed at the debate.” While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney about the op-ed, he also refrained from attempting to kill it.

The piece landed like a bunker buster on Wednesday, sending the White House into damage control mode as aides scrambled to respond to some of the most devastating lines by Clooney. Among them:

“We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate.”

“The dam has broken. We can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November, or we can speak the truth.”

“Top Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeen Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.”

Politico also reported that Pelosi and Schumer have quietly given their blessing to House and Senate Democrats to run from Biden in order to protect their seats in what’s shaping up to be a brutal cycle for the party. Appearing on “Morning Joe” Thursday, Pelosi told Scarborough and Brzezinski that the president needs to come to a decision about whether to stay in the race, an appeal that aides later said was a smoke signal that Democrats should feel free to call on Biden to drop out if they believe it will help them in November. Similarly, Senate Minority Leader Schumer has begun to tell some of the party’s biggest donors that he is open to a ticket without Biden at the top, according to Axios.

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