Robert De Niro Rips Trump During Education Speech, Says President Is an 'Idiot' Who 'Treats Education as a Con'

While offering sage advice about the importance of education at a Los Angeles benefit on Tuesday, Robert De Niro roasted President Donald Trump and described him as a corrupt idiot who had to "endure the heartbreak of bone spurs."

"He lacks any sense of humanity or compassion," De Niro said, according to Variety reporter Tara Bitran, who filmed a portion of the speech. "Of course, he did have to overcome the curse of growing up rich and spoiled and endure the heartbreak of bone spurs. Maybe that had an effect."

The actor, a longtime advocate for education, was speaking at an event for Fulfillment Fund, a nonprofit in Los Angeles that promotes higher learning. He apologized for his brief tangent during a speech that honored the fund's founders. To be silent is to be complicit, the Academy Award winner argued.

"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 continued to use the president as a cautionary tale, riffing that it's entirely possible to be unintelligent while having a degree from a prestigious university.

"A college education is important, but education without humanity is ignorance," the actor said. "Look at our president. He made it through University of Pennsylvania, so he was exposed to a quality education, but he's still an idiot."

His speech was met with cheers from the star-studded audience, many of whom came out to pay tribute to the Fulfillment Fund founders Cherna and Dr. Gary Gitnick. According to the foundation's website, its mission is to empower youth through instruction, mentoring and college counseling.

Tuesday's event is hardly the first time De Niro has slammed the president. While honoring Meryl Streep in January, the 74-year-old actor called him a "f*cking idiot," a "f*cking fool," and the "jerk off in chief."

In a Get Out the Vote campaign video that was never used, he also expressed a deep-seated desire to give the president a beatdown.

"He's a punk, he's a dog, he's a pig, he's a con, a bullshit artist," De Niro said. "A mutt who doesn't know what he's talking about, doesn't do his homework, doesn't care, thinks he's gaming society, doesn't pay his taxes.

"He talks how he'd like to punch people in the face?" De Niro continued. "Well, I'd like to punch him in the face."