George Clooney has directed a genuine message of hope to Donald Trump, wishing him well over the next few years of his second-term presidency.
The two-time Oscar winner and lifelong Democrat issued the surprising remark during his Tuesday appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“I was raised a Democrat in Kentucky,” Clooney, 63, told Colbert and the studio audience. “So I’ve had a lot of fun in my life, as you can imagine.”
He continued: “And you know, I’ve lost a lot of elections. The first time I voted, it was 1980, so I was a Carter guy and Reagan won. And then I lost to some Bushes. And I won with some Clintons and Obamas.
“You know, this is Democracy. And this is how it works,” he conceded.
Colbert interjected to joke: “How did it go this time for you? I forgot who you were supporting.”
Clooney, who supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 election after urging Joe Biden to exit the race, quipped: “Well, I don’t know, what am I supposed to do? Storm the f***ing Capitol?
“It didn’t work out. That’s what happens,” the Oceans Twelve actor said, shrugging. “It’s part of democracy. And there are people who agree and people who disagree and most of us still like each other. And we’ll get through it.”
Clooney went on to use his seven-year-old son Alexander’s love of chess as an example of how to lose graciously.
“He plays a lot of older kids. And he’s not winning all the time, as you can imagine. And he gets upset, and I say, ‘Listen, you shake the guy’s hand and you say good game I’ll get you next time,’” the ER alum said, adding that “you’ve gotta live by those rules.”
Indirectly speaking to Trump, Clooney said: “Alright, okay. Good for you. I hope you do well because our country needs it, and we will meet you in 3.5 years and see where we go next.”
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Colbert immediately knocked on his desk to signify his hopes that “there will be another [election].”
“Let’s not get out over our skis, George,” he teased. “You know you play by the rules, but both sides have to believe there should be rules.”
Trump has repeatedly joked about serving a constitutionally-barred third term as president, leading to concerns that Republicans would push to change the Constitution in his favor.
