George Clooney does not seem to be thinking about Donald Trump as much as Donald Trump seems to be thinking about George Clooney. The actor dismissed the president’s recent criticism of him on CBS Mornings, saying, “I don’t care. I’ve known Donald Trump for a long time. My job is not to please the President of the United States.”
Clooney continued: “My job is to try and tell the truth when I can and when I have the opportunity. I am well aware of the idea that people will not like that, there will be people that criticize that. And there’s certainly people — Elon Musk has weighed in once in a while. That’s their right to do it, and it’s my right to say the other side.”
Trump lashed out at the Oscar-winner on Truth Social last month — calling him a “second rate movie ‘star,’ and failed political pundit” — after Clooney appeared on 60 Minutes to promote the Broadway adaptation of Good Night, and Good Luck. The play (based on the 2006 movie of the same name) tells the story of journalist Edward R. Murrow, who overcame political and corporate pressure to report on Joseph McCarthy and his anti-communist witch hunts in the 1950s.
On 60 Minutes, Clooney pointedly spoke about Trump’s efforts to stifle the media, both through verbal attacks and a recent spate of lawsuits. He noted ABC News’ decision to settle a defamation lawsuit with the Trump administration, as well as the $20 billion suit Trump has filed against CBS News, claiming 60 Minutes engaged in election interference by editing an interview with Kamala Harris to make her look good. (CBS has denied the claim and asked a judge to dismiss the suit.)
“We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or, fine, or use corporations to make journalists smaller,” Clooney said. “Governments don’t like the freedom of the press. They never have. And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you’re on. They don’t like the press.”
From Rolling Stone US
