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Former President Barack Obama is keeping quiet following reports that he is working “behind the scenes” to remove President Biden from the 2024 presidential race.
Multiple media outlets reported on Obama's alleged efforts Thursday morning, including Politico, which reported that actor George Clooney had given former President Obama a “warning” over a New York Times guest op-ed calling on Biden to back down.
“President Obama did not encourage or advise Mr. Clooney to speak, but he did not oppose it either,” the report said.
'Obama Brothers' back up Clooney's damaging op-ed claims about Biden's mental health
Former President Obama and President Biden. (Getty Images)
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough went a step further, saying on Biden's favorite show, “Morning Joe,” that “what's going on behind the scenes is the Biden campaign, and many Democrats believe that Barack Obama is working quietly behind the scenes to orchestrate this.”
A source close to Obama declined to comment on the report but told Fox News Digital that the former president spoke in support of Biden both at the Los Angeles fundraiser that was the subject of Clooney's op-ed and during his disappointing performance in the first presidential debate last month.
Since then, Obama has maintained public silence while many of his closest aides and former staffers, including Clooney, former national security adviser David Axelrod and the “Obama Brothers,” a trio of top aides often referred to during Obama's White House tenure, have stepped up their calls for the president to step down.
'Obama brothers' attack Biden as rumors of long-standing tensions linger: 'It's painful to watch'
Joe Scarborough speaks at the National Action Network's Women's Empowerment Luncheon at the Sheraton New York in New York City on April 11. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
In his op-ed, Clooney said Democratic leaders needed to stop trying to convince Americans “that they didn't see what we just saw” and accused them of ignoring “warning signs” about Biden.
He cited his attendance at a fundraiser in June, where the Biden who showed up was “not the 'Big' Joe Biden of 2010. Not even the Joe Biden of 2020. The same guy we all saw at the debates.”
Jon Favreau, a former adviser and member of the “Obama Brothers,” said during a CNN appearance on Wednesday that he attended the same fundraiser as Clooney and saw the same things as him.
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Jon Favreau speaks onstage during a live taping of “Pod Save America” at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin on March 18, 2023. (Jeff Scheer/Getty Images for WisDems)
“It wasn't a surprise to us at the fundraiser. I was there. Clooney was right and everyone I spoke to at the fundraiser was thinking the same thing, except for the people who work for Joe Biden. At least they didn't say that,” he said.
“I remember after the fundraiser, my wife Emily asked me, 'What are you going to do?' and I said, 'Well, the debate is in a week. If he does well in the debate, people will think he was just tired because he flew back from Europe and that's the end of it. Or he'll look like this at the debate and the whole country will be talking about it. So this is what we're doing.'”
Biden has said he has no plans to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, and his campaign remains “full steam ahead,” a source told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital's Election Hub.