Giving even the most cuss-friendly Martin Scorsese films a run for their money, Robert De Niro has launched an expletive-filled tirade on former President Donald Trump during a recent episode of The View.
The Academy Award-winner appeared on the ABC talk show to promote his upcoming film Ezra, in which he co-stars opposite The View’s Whoopi Goldberg. De Niro didn’t mince words when asked about his message to voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, reiterating his years-long disdain for Trump and urging everyone to revisit history.
“You read about it historically in other countries that they didn’t take the people seriously,” the actor said. “I think of Hitler [and] Mussolini.” De Niro went on to declare that if Trump gets elected, he will fulfill his promises and “change this country.”
It was during the next soundbite that The View’s mute censor got a Jane Fonda-level workout, as De Niro said those voting for Trump want to “f**k” this country — to rapturous applause from the studio audience. “I see what a hateful, mean-spirited, awful thing he is,” the actor added. Later, De Niro offered a bleeped-out suggestion for what Trump’s slogan should be; “f**k America, I want to f***k America!”
Elsewhere in the interview, De Niro referenced his 2016 comment in which he declared he’d like to “punch Donald Trump in the face,” elaborating that the message was in response to Trump’s own words to a protester at one of his rallies. “It’s because of what he said to a bystander at one of his rallies,” De Niro recalled. “He wants to punch them in the face — you don’t talk that way to people.”
The View interview also saw both De Niro and panelist Joy Behar criticize Trump’s previous comments about disabled people and the military. “It’s almost like he wants to do the worst that he could possibly do,” De Niro said in response.
Closing out his tirade, De Niro declared that “it’s over” if Trump wins the election, warning of civil strife and “chaos and craziness” should he take the White House in November. All up, the actor managed to get in four F-bombs during the interview, though the censor denied us the joy of hearing the word in its full glory.
De Niro’s sentiment is perhaps to be expected, since it adds to a long string of the actor’s anti-Trump comments. In 2019, he called the former President a “gangster” — after which Trump described him as a “total loser” — and De Niro has elsewhere labeled Trump an “idiot”, “evil”, “blatantly stupid” and a “wanna-be tough guy.”
Tell us how you really feel, Robert.