George Clooney Reveals 3 Democrats He’d Endorse in 2028

George Clooney has shut down any speculation that he might seek the presidency, instead pointing to a new generation of Democrats he believes could help the party reclaim the White House in 2028.

Speaking Friday at The Future of Creativity event in Venice, Italy, the 65-year-old actor, activist and major Democratic fundraiser weighed in on the next presidential cycle, singling out Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff as a rising figure to watch. “I think we’re all very excited by this young senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff,” Clooney said.

Clooney also said he has respect for Illinois Gov. Jay Pritzker and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, though he stopped short of offering a formal endorsement and suggested he would wait until after November’s midterm elections before backing any one potential 2028 Democratic contender.

Ossoff, 39, has drawn national attention since winning his Georgia Senate seat in 2021. His victory made him the youngest person elected to the U.S. Senate since 1980, the first senator born in the 1980s and the first millennial to serve in the chamber.

For Clooney, age appears to be more than a talking point — it is a key factor in how he views political viability and the future of Democratic leadership. He said that same concern is why he has no interest in becoming a candidate himself.

“I am 65 years old, and I think that we need some young voices that are coming up with new ideas and some new thoughts,” Clooney said, making clear he would “absolutely not” enter the race for public office.

His remarks echoed the debate he helped fuel in July 2024, when Clooney published a widely discussed New York Times op-ed urging then-President Joe Biden, who was 81 at the time, to step aside from that year’s presidential race amid mounting concerns about his age.

‘I would be more than excited to support anyone but not people who are my age or older,’ Clooney said during the sit-down. ‘I think we need to get some younger people in.’

The actor also touted his influence in the political space, saying: ‘I’ve done it [fundraise] since 1988. I’ve been supporting and working. I was the biggest Democratic fundraiser ever.’

Indeed, Clooney has considerable influence, with his op-ed about Biden effectively opening the floodgates for other famous names to call on the then-President to drop out. 

In the piece, Clooney wrote of a fundraiser he hosted with Biden: ‘It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe “big f***ing deal” Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020.

‘He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.’

Biden ended his bid for re-election just 11 days later. 

Last October, former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted Clooney in her book about the election, saying: ‘Clooney was an A-list Hollywood celebrity and a self-professed proud Democrat. His opinion was a huge deal and would draw tremendous attention from the media and the public alike.’

She also criticized decisions made by the Democratic party before Biden bowed out of the race, framing her colleagues’ effort to remove him as a betrayal.

Clooney’s calls ‘may not have been a calculated jab at the party’s campaign to push out the president, but the letter lent a renewed velocity to the effort,’ she wrote.

‘After its publication, more and more party leaders said Biden had to go.’

‘Though his concerns weren’t completely unjustified, his assessment didn’t offer the full context.’

Jean-Pierre also described the fundraiser Clooney hosted with Biden, which she attended.

‘We went through nine time zones. I was tired, and I’m decades younger than Biden, so it was understandable that he might not have been sprinting across a ballroom or at his most electric when addressing the star-studded crowd,’ she wrote.