Legendary actor and longtime Trump critic, Robert De Niro, blasted the former president in a a speech to fellow Trump haters.
The Oscar-winning actor had planned to speak at the Stop Trump Summit, which was hosted by political outlet The New Republic in New York City on Wednesday, but fell ill.
After testing positive for the latest strain of COVID-19, De Niro bowed out and sent a written statement to the event, which was read to the audience by former Trump official Miles Taylor.
“I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men,” Taylor read. “I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty.”
BREAKING: In a devastating speech, iconic actor Robert De Niro rips Donald Trump to shreds, declaring that Trump is “not a bad man,” but “an evil one” who is a “wanna be tough guy” and has “no morals or ethics.”
But Robert De Niro didn’t stop there…
De Niro continued:
“Trump… pic.twitter.com/NtR2arx26B
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) October 12, 2023
“Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump. When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly,” De Niro’s speech continued dramatically. “I see an evil one.”
The actor, who has had a storied career playing mobsters in smash-hits like Casino, Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale, and The Irishman, amongst others, said that he has “met gangsters here and there” throughout the years.
He claimed that Trump “tries to be one,” but is unable to “quite pull it off,” because he doesn’t have a “moral code.”
“There’s such a thing as “honor among thieves.” Yes, even criminals usually have a sense of right and wrong,” he said about the legitimate career criminals he apparently has associated with.
“Whether they do the right thing or not is a different story—but—they have a moral code, however warped,” De Niro stated. “Donald Trump does not.”
He said that Trump has no loyalty to anyone and even has “contempt” for his supporters.
“He’s a wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself,” the actor charged.
“Not the people he was supposed to lead and protect, not the people he does business with, not the people who follow him, blindly and loyally, not even the people who consider themselves his “friends.” He has contempt for all of them,” De Niro alleged.
The Taxi Driver star noted that New Yorkers “got to know” Trump as a real estate developer, when he “littered the city with monuments to his ego.”
He said the city’s residents “tried to warn the world in 2016” that the former president was a person who should have never have been “considered for leadership.”
He blamed Trump for dividing America during his time in office failing the city during the pandemic by letting residents watch their “neighbors piling up in body bags.”
De Niro likened Trump to “an abusive father ruling the family by fear and violent behavior” that put the country “in peril” due to his “recklessness and impulsiveness.”
He added that the country “must take the danger of Donald Trump very seriously,” because “democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator” if he is reelected to the White House in 2024.
The Godfather star urged attendees of the summit to “reach out” to the former president’s supporters who “have ignored the hazards of Trump and, for whatever reason, support elevating him back into the White House.”
De Niro advised his audience to reach out to MAGA with “respect,” but avoid speaking about democracy during the process.
“Democracy may be our holy grail, but to others it is just a word, a concept, and in their embrace of Trump, they’ve already turned their backs on it,” he stated.
“They’re not stupid, and we must not condemn them for making a stupid choice,” the Heat star told the crowd through his appointed mouth piece.
“Our future doesn’t just depend on us. It depends on them.”
It wasn’t the first time De Niro took shots at Trump supporters, he lashed out at the 71 million who voted for him in 2021.
“It’s the same playbook as Mussolini, as Hitler, as wannabe dictators,” he remarked during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Beat.”
“It’s what they’re going to do for the people, make Germany great again, make Italy great again, make America great again.”
“It’s all appealing to the worst prejudices, the worst weaknesses of the public and instead of leading them and guiding them and being someone that they can look up to,” De Niro said.
“And when the public is not right, you have to be [there] to do the right thing and set an example for them. And if you don’t, then we’re going to be where we are today.”