Robert De Niro Slams NRA 'Idiocy,' Says We're 'Beyond' Seeing Trump Supporters' Point of View
Robert De Niro isn't wasting any time on pleasantries with his political commentary these days.
In a new interview with Indie Wire published on Wednesday, the actor weighed in on the hot-button issue of gun control amid the recent nationwide protests sparked by the survivors of the deadly school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
"The people that I care about are those young people who demonstrated," De Niro told Indie Wire. "They're the future. They know. They say, 'We'll remember in November.' They're the ones that feel the way we do, not the way the gun lovers and the NRA do, with all that idiocy to the point of absurdity."
De Niro also criticized President Donald Trump in the new interview, something he hasn't been shy about since the former reality-TV star announced he was running. The subject of the president came up after a question about Trump-supporting comedian Roseanne Barr, whose revived sitcom has earned solid ratings.
"I've never seen her show before, I didn't know she was supporting Trump, but I have no interest in that," De Niro told Indie Wire. "We're at a point with all of ... this where it's beyond trying to see another person's point of view. There are ways you can talk about that, but we're at a point where the things that are happening in our country are so bad and it comes from Trump."
Robert De Niro has no interest in the #Roseanne reboot, says we have real issues to focus on instead: “We’re at a point with all of us this where it’s beyond trying to see another person’s point of view" https://t.co/hddAtPi8lY pic.twitter.com/xJOCKlzJA0
— IndieWire (@IndieWire) April 5, 2018
This is far from the first time the Raging Bull actor has spoken out against Trump. He did, after all, once film a video in which he talked wanting to punch the then-candidate in the face. And just last month, while delivering remarks at an event for an education nonprofit, De Niro steered the conversation toward the president.
"Now I'm not trying to turn this non-political event into a political one, but as long as our country's leadership is so appalling and so corrupt, I'll be speaking out at every venue," De Niro said. "To be silent in the face of such villainy is to be complicit, and it's especially appropriate tonight because Trump treats education as a con, a way to make a profit at the expense of the suckers."
He was even more straightforward with his Trump insults at an event for the National Board of Review in January. "This f---ing idiot is the president," he said, according to a transcript posted by New York Times reporter Sopan Deb. "It's 'The Emperor's New Clothes'—the guy is a f---ing fool."
