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George Clooney urges Biden to drop out of the 2024 race: “The dam has broken”
Actor and prominent Democrat fundraiser George Clooney is calling for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, even as Mr. Biden says he’s “firmly committed” to running.
In a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday, Clooney urged the Democratic Party to choose a new nominee, pointing to Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month.
“We are not going to win in November with this president,” Clooney wrote. “On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor who I’ve spoken with in private.”
Clooney’s op-ed came less than a month after he co-hosted a star-studded fundraiser for Biden that included former President Barack Obama, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and actress Julia Roberts. The Biden-Harris campaign said it raised $30 million, a record sum for a single Democratic fundraiser.
However, Clooney’s support for the president now appears to be waning.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” he wrote. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Andrew Harnik/Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
The two-time Oscar winner conceded Mr. Biden may have been tired or sick during the debate against former President Donald Trump, but he warned Democrats about their election chances if they move forward with Biden as the party’s nominee.
Urging Democratic lawmakers not to “wait and see if the dam breaks,” Clooney said that “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.”
The silver lining of a fresh nominee is that it would enliven the Democratic party and “wake up voters,” Clooney wrote, pointing to the recent legislative elections in France in which the far-right was blocked from a big win.
Clooney said the Democratic Party has an “exciting bench” and suggested picking someone at the Democratic National Convention in August. He pointed to potential candidates such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.
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A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.