George Clooney attacked Donald Trump over his scandalous dealings with the media. Trump's reaction was instant: "Clooney is a minor actor."

On CBS's "60 Minutes", the actor, who supported Joe Biden before withdrawing his support during the last presidential election, criticised the establishment and thus the American president. "Governments don't like freedom of the press. They never have. And that goes for conservatives, progressives or in either camp," said Amal Clooney's husband, before pointing to two instances involving Donald Trump.

"When the other three branches fail us, when the judicial, executive and legislative branches fail us, the fourth should triumph," George Clooney, currently starring on Broadway, continued, lamenting the media's defeat, "The ABC just reached a settlement with the Trump administration. And CBS News is in the process of doing the same. We see this idea of using the government to intimidate, blame or manipulate media companies to diminish the power of journalists on the job," he said.

George Clooney was referring to the $15 million settlement between ABC and Donald Trump: The company agreed to pay to avoid a defamation lawsuit after a host made comments about E. Jean Carroll, on which the president was convicted of sexual assault. CBS, for its part, may pay $10 million to Donald Trump, who accuses the channel of rigging the presidential election by airing an interview with Kamala Harris on "60 Minutes." A charge he maintains despite his victory.

On the Twitter-style social network he created, the US president lashed out at George Clooney. "Why does a show as discredited as 60 Minutes praise George Clooney, a second-rate actor and failed political commentator?" he wrote, and mocked the actor's support for his predecessor Joe Biden: "He fought tooth and nail to pick Sleepy Joe, then, right after the debate, dropped him like a dog. Then, I guess at the behest of the Obama camp, he jumped on the Kamala bandwagon before realizing it wasn't going to work!"

On "60 Minutes," George Clooney explained his withdrawal of support for Joe Biden - before he himself withdrew in favor of Kamala Harris: "I was raised to always tell the truth. I had seen the president up close during the fundraiser and was surprised [by his health]. I felt that our party was showing great cowardice on this issue. And I was not proud of that," Clooney said. | BGNES