George Clooney endorses Kamala Harris for president, says Joe Biden is 'saving democracy'

The actor previously called on Biden to bow out of the race in a controversial op-ed for "The New York Times."

Hollywood star and longtime Democratic fundraiser George Clooney has endorsed Kamala Harris' presidential bid after calling on Joe Biden to bow out of the race.

"President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again. We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest," Clooney said in a statement obtained by Entertainment Weekly.

Related: Celebs react to President Biden dropping out of 2024 election, supporting Kamala Harris: 'Legend'

It comes about a week after the A-list actor penned a controversial guest column for The New York Times that called on the president, 81, to drop his re-election bid at the 2024 presidential election following his disastrous June 27 debate against Donald Trump, who once again clinched the Republican nomination.

"I love Joe Biden," Clooney, one of Biden's biggest supporters and donors in Hollywood, said in his column. "As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced."

"But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time," Clooney said, noting that while it's "devastating" to say it, the "Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago" at a 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."

Clooney also claimed that he's spoken with numerous Democratic senators and members of congress in private, stating that "every single one" shared the sentiment that Biden could not win against Trump in November. Suggesting that several other prominent Democrat nominees could “enliven our party and wake up voters," Clooney said, "We can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November, or we can speak the truth."

Related: Joy Behar slams George Clooney for calling for Joe Biden to step down: 'I'm mad at George Clooney right now'

"Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020," he concluded. "We need him to do it again in 2024."

Biden announced his exit from the race on Sunday, endorsing Harris as the Democratic nominee. Harris' campaign reported that the vice president raised more than $100 million in donations between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. Biden, currently recovering from COVID, is expected to address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening about what lies ahead.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.