What to Know
Robert De Niro is a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, and during a recent conversation, he got emotional when talking about how Trump is “attempting to destroy this country.” During an interview with MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace, De Niro referred to Trump as the “enemy of this country” and urged Americans to stand up and do something about it.
Instead of arguing about all of “our little differences,” Americans need to come together, he said. “Trump is the enemy of this country,” De Niro told Wallace. “Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s that simple. Everybody has to stick together to get them out and get back on track.”
He also warned that Trump will never willingly leave office.
During the conversation, De Niro referenced how people sometimes think Trump is just joking about things like nationalizing elections. But De Niro has no reason to believe that he’s joking, and he finds these comments absolutely terrifying. “He will never leave. We have to make him leave,” De Niro said. “He jokes now about nationalizing the elections. He’s not joking. We’ve seen enough already.”
Wallace asked, “So you don’t think he leaves in three years?” And De Niro asserted, “He ain’t leaving. No way. Let’s not kid ourselves. He will not leave. It’s up to us to get rid of him.”
He also made it clear that he thinks Trump is completely “cruel” and “unqualified.” Given that he’s always fighting with people (including celebrities who don’t support him), he’s definitely “not a person who cares about everybody,” De Niro argued.
“[He’s] trying to divide everybody,” De Niro said. “You just see him have these stupid fights with Rosie O’Donnell and other people…What is all that about?” De Niro added that this is not the behavior of someone who is responsible for leading the country. “To me, someone like that should never even been allowed to get near running for president,” he said.
Wallace asked De Niro if he’s scared of Trump.
Obviously, Trump does not respond well to criticism and has gone after a lot of his critics. But De Niro is not intimidated. “I can’t afford to be afraid,” he answered. “Of course, you have anxiety, you’re afraid…[but] you cannot you cannot allow them to intimidate you.”
Wallace also asked De Niro why Trump seems to be so “triggered” by peaceful protests. But De Niro doesn’t care about that. “Who cares?” he responded. “He’s an idiot. We’ve got to get rid of him. He’s gonna ruin the country. Everything that this country has worked for, represents, he is ruining it and it’s right before your eyes.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, he reiterated his concerns about Trump ruining the country. “The story is our country, and Trump is destroying it, and who knows what his reasons are, but it’s sick, it’s f—ed up,” he said. “We have to save this country.”
By the end of the interview, he got really emotional.
Later in their conversation, Wallace asked De Niro why he makes such an effort to thank people and lift them up. “You have to — you have to lift people up,” he answered. “You have to bring them together. You can’t divide people, you can’t win that way.” De Niro started tearing up and related the topic back to Trump’s presidency. “It’s a no-win situation,” he said. “And look what we have, look who we have there, it’s almost like a destiny to have this thing there, destroying… attempting to destroy this country, and maybe not even understanding why. So it’s up to us to protect the country.”
