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Robert De Niro has attacked Donald Trump as “a jerk” and “an idiot,” arguing that if the former President is re-elected in November he will not relinquish power.
The Taxi Driver actor, 81, has been a longtime critic of Trump and clashed with his supporters outside his hush money trial earlier this year.
During a new interview for Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? on Max, De Niro was asked whether he believed Trump would voluntarily give up power after serving a potential second term.
“You know he won’t,” replied the actor. “You know he won’t. He even said it. He’s never going to give it up. And anybody who deludes themselves in thinking that he is, shame on you.”
Wallace went on to ask De Niro whether the actor had any run-ins with the real estate mogul in New York during the 1970s and 1980s, and whether there was any personal animosity between the pair.
“No. I never wanted anything to do with him,” responded De Niro. “He’s a jerk, an idiot, who wants to meet a clown like that?
“You’ve got to help everybody. People are going to get overlooked. That happens, but at least you have somebody who’s sensitive to the condition of the country, the people. And I’m not saying this like this, because it’s Kamala Harris, but it is. We need someone like her to do it. She’ll make mistakes. Of course, everybody does, but we need somebody with the right intentions, this guy has does not have the right intentions, and everybody knows that. It’s insanity. Period.”
The host then asked De Niro about comparisons between the Trump family and the mob characters De Niro has played in films such as Goodfellas, Casino and The Godfather Part II.
“He thinks he’s a gangster,” said De Niro. “He does everything like a gangster. I don’t think that gangsters in that world would want – think much of him, because... there’s honor among thieves. There’s honor in anything. If you don’t keep your word and do the right thing with people, no matter what profession you’re in, you are going to get ostracized. And in that world, it’s a little harder.”
Earlier this week it was revealed that De Niro recently confronted heiress Elisabeth Murdoch over her father Rupert’s media empire, telling her: “You can still love your father, but you can tell him he is wrong for what he is doing to this country.”
