But that’s exactly what recent events have given us.

President Biden’s team reportedly clapped back at the iconic actor on Wednesday after Clooney’s scathing New York Times guest essay that pushed for the president to step down from his reelection campaign in the wake of serious widespread concerns about his mental fitness.

A Times congressional correspondent, Annie Karni, wrote on X that “Biden is fighting back on Clooney” and cited “a source familiar with event planning” as mocking the actor for his level of participation at a June 15 fundraiser that Clooney referenced in his op-ed.

“The President stayed for over three hours, while Clooney took a photo quickly and left,” the source said.

Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reacted to the statement with incredulity on X: “Biden is really trying to claim that he’s more vigorous than George Clooney? Really? I’ve traveled with Clooney for days over rough roads in sub-Saharan Africa, and it’s just sad to see Biden pretend that he can outlast Clooney at anything. I admire Biden. So does Clooney. But at least Clooney put his name on his essay; this is anonymous White House backstabbing, and incompetent to boot.”

The president’s campaign has also pointed out that Biden attended the fundraiser having just flown in from Italy, where he had been attending the G7 summit.

The back and forth follows the publication of Clooney’s essay, which has drawn praise for being a well-written and politely devastating case for Biden to step aside. Clooney, a longtime Biden supporter, says that Biden’s performance at the star-studded fundraiser was similar to his worrisome appearance at the June 27 debate against Donald Trump in Atlanta.

“I love Joe Biden,” Clooney wrote. “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. None of us can. 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 wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

Continued Clooney: “Our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign … We are not going to win in November with this president. 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. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”

Added Clooney, “[If Biden stepped aside] we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out. Would it be messy? Yes. Democracy is messy. But would it enliven our party and wake up voters who, long before the June debate, had already checked out? It sure would.”

Earlier Wednesday, longtime Biden supporter Michael Douglas, told The View that he felt Clooney’s essay was “a valid point.”

“I’m deeply, deeply concerned,” Douglas said. “Especially, it’s difficult because the Democrats have a big bench, they’ve got a lot of heavy hitters, a lot of talent.”