Robert De Niro says Trump presidency is like being in a 'national abusive' relationship with a 'fraud'
Robert De Niro has once again lashed out at President Donald Trump, this time likening the Trump presidency to being in an "abusive" relationship. The Hollywood veteran sat down with Extra to promote his new comedy 'The War With Grandpa'. “You can be in a domestic abusive situation, and now we’re in a national abusive situation with a leader who is daily giving us something new to be concerned about,” he said, before comparing the Trump administration to the coronavirus pandemic.
“That’s another kind of virus or pandemic that we are having to deal with. ‘I can’t wait, can’t wait, please God, that it goes away so we can get back to normal, get us all back to normal,'" he added. The two-time Oscar-winner then proceeded to brand Trump a "fraud" who had failed America in his response to the pandemic. “Even this virus situation could have been a lot less severe… I get upset even talking about it,” the actor said. “This nation has been toyed with, played with, conned to be where we are today. When are people going to wake up and see what the fraud is right in front of our very eyes?”
De Niro has been one of Hollywood's most vocal Trump critics. He recently called the POTUS a "criminal" who would turn the United States into a fascist country if he won in November. During an interview with Yahoo Entertainment released on September 24, the 'Raging Bull' star called Trump a “criminal who will stop at nothing” to win. “We have to win it. Everybody has to join. We have to speak out and win this fight, period. We can’t let this go further,” De Niro insisted, and warned that if Trump got “another four years, we’re into fascism, American-style, period."
The actor then encouraged Americans to vote and said it's "unimaginable what will happen” if Trump won the election. “We have to vote him out of office and even then it’s going to be a problem. This guy is something we don’t understand, and a lot of people don’t understand. His logic, his mindset, it’s scary,” De Niro said.
According to him, if the president managed to beat Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, the country would experience "irreparable damage." “In some ways now there’s irreparable damage, because the world looks at us like we’re crazy, allowing this crazy person and administration and enablers [to lead],” De Niro said.
Having said that, the release of 'The War with Grandpa' was delayed due to the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal. According to Breitbart News, the Weinstein Company was forced to place the comedy -- originally set to release in 2018 -- on indefinite hold after the Hollywood titan's career collapsed over a litany of sex assault allegations that spanned over a period of three decades.
Nonetheless, the movie is now being distributed by 101 Studious, a new entertainment firm led by former Weinstein Co. president David Glasser. It's worth noting that Weinstein, who is currently serving a 23-year jail sentence after being convicted on sex crimes, was a major donor to the Obama-Biden ticket.