Robert De Niro is a public hater of Donald Trump and the actor had some choice words for the former president at a New York screening of Megalopolis last night. During a Q&A session with Spike Lee and the film’s director Francis Ford Coppola, De Niro urged the audience to “just imagine Donald Trump directing this film.”
“It’ll never go anywhere, from total craziness,” De Niro said (via Deadline). “He cannot do anything. He cannot hold anything together.” He added, “He wants to destroy the country. And he could not do this movie. He could not do anything that has a structure.”
During the Q&A session, held the AMC Lincoln Square IMAX in New York, the actor and filmmakers drew comparisons between the film’s story and present-day politics in the U.S.
“I see the things in Francis’ film about that, the parallels and so on,” De Niro said. “To me, it’s not over ’till it’s over and we have to go at this wholeheartedly to beat the Republicans – those Republicans, they’re not real Republicans – and beat Trump. It’s that simple. We cannot have that type of person. Everybody has to get out there and vote.”
Lee added, “As my sister says, forward not backward. It’s simple: Register to vote and show up… This election is going to be very, very close. I’m a big sports fan and, the expression you used, it’s not over ’till it’s over. We cannot just think that the game is over when it’s not.”
Earlier this month, De Niro participated in “Paisans for Kamala,” a livestream event featuring prominent Italian-Americans supporting the Kamala Harris‘ presidential campaign. During the event, De Niro confirmed he is “very optimistic about it all.”
“I’m very excited, but to me, it ain’t over till it’s over,” the actor said. “So we can’t for one second think that we’re ahead of this thing. We just have to be on it all the time until the very end because they’re going to try everything when the election day comes. When will these things be final? What will they question? What will they play games about? We know it’s coming, we see it coming. We have to just be ever vigilant, and it’s not over till it’s over.”
He added that he doesn’t want to see a repeat of Jan. 6, noting “I think people will think twice about doing something about that no matter what Trump says, because… people pay a price, and is it worth it for them? Especially following someone like him? You know, it’s just insane.”
In May, De Niro clashed with pro-Trump protesters outside of the former president’s criminal hush-money trial in New York. “Donald Trump doesn’t belong in my city,” De Niro told the crowd at a press conference. “We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot. A two-bit playboy lying his way into the tabloids. He’s a clown.”
The actor previously narrated an ad for Joe Biden before the president dropped out of the campaign. The 30-spot took aim at Trump, with De Niro promising a “bloodbath” if Trump loses the election again. “Trump wants revenge and he’ll stop at nothing to get it,” De Niro confirmed in the ad.
