Back in the day, Robert DeNiro used to be a strong silent type when it came to talking about himself or promoting his films. For most of my life, DeNiro came across as grumpy and uncommunicative in interviews. But there’s been a real shift in recent years. I kind of think it was because of Donald Trump. DeNiro loathes Trump with every fiber of his being, and for the past six years or so, DeNiro has used his promotional interviews to talk about politics and how Trump f–king sucks. It’s pretty great, actually. Well, here’s another one for the pile – DeNiro spoke to Rolling Stone about Killers of the Flower Moon, his family and how Trump can absolutely never get near the White House again.
His busy 2023, which saw him welcome a baby girl & lose a grandson: “It’s a lot. I have no choice but to plow through. And my biggest concern now, with everything else, is us getting out of this situation with a monster in Trump. This is a classic grift. This is unreal. If you look at other totalitarian countries like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, it will affect everybody in ways you can’t even imagine.”
His new daughter Gia DeNiro is half-Asian: “Half-Chinese. I want to try to teach her Chinese and show her nursery rhymes in English and Chinese. I’m hoping to have her learn both.
He also has half-Black kids: “Years ago, Joe Pesci said to me, “You’re more American than most Americans,” because I had two children at the time that were mixed. And I never thought of it at all. But then I said, “You know, he’s got a point.” That’s what this country is. But every group has to get out there and vote.
His recent Gotham Awards speech was censored: “What happened was I was working on the speech with a writer, Lewis Friedman, and he gave it to them, and then one of the consultants had put something in the speech about how kids in Oklahoma aren’t even able to read the book Killers of the Flower Moon. And then I didn’t hear anything. They gave me the script, and I looked at the prompter, and I asked after, “What happened?” And they assumed that I had spoken to Marty or somebody about it, but I hadn’t. They assumed that I would be OK with it, and maybe I’m still getting it wrong, and I wasn’t. Marty and I spoke about it the next day and he said, “Yeah, I had sent you a text and [Apple] asked if you could dial it down, respectfully.”
It was probably Apple’s fault. “I didn’t even want to blame [Apple], but I was annoyed in the moment with whoever did it. If Marty had called me and said, “Apple asked me to do this and that,” then we would’ve gone over it. But I told Marty, “Everything in that speech is leading up to what this movie is about. And I don’t want to take away from the movie. It’s not a rant about Trump. It’s appropriate.”
Losing some fans because he speaks out about Trump: “You can’t please everybody. There’s always going to be somebody who doesn’t like you for this or that. All I know is: Trump brings out the worst in people. He’s a monster. I didn’t think that in the beginning when he was first elected. I thought, “Maybe he’ll straighten out.” Now, this guy is beyond dangerous, and I just hope people can realize it. Once you go down that road, it won’t be easy to come back. I was just at the White House for the Kennedy Center Honors with Billy Crystal, and I got emotional. The bands were playing Christmas songs, and it was so upbeat, and I thought, “This is what it has to be.” Like, what’s going on with this Trump stuff? This is crazy.
Whether he thinks Pres. Biden is the right guy to take on Trump: “I think that if Biden was on a gurney and couldn’t move anything but his eyes to blink “yes” or “no,” he’s our person. There’s no way that he’s not the guy to take Trump down. Nikki Haley, maybe? We need anything to get rid of Trump. If she came in it could at least throw him off and have her be the nominee. But Biden is the best person at this point. All I hope is that everybody gets out to vote, and all the minorities and young people get out and vote, vote, vote. You’ve gotta get out there and vote.
On January 6th: “It’s unbelievable. There was the crazy one with the hat and the horns. It was the inmates running the asylum.
Killers of the Flower Moon: “I think it’s a masterpiece. A great movie. I don’t know how corrective it will ultimately be, but the story is there and it’s for the audience to decide how it affects them. With Marty and Leo, it was their idea to change it so that the white guy from the FBI named Tom White didn’t come in and save the day. It’s about the relationship between Ernest and his uncle, and Ernest and Mollie, played by Lily Gladstone, who’s just wonderful. It’s complex and asks a lot of questions. The conflict is not even that clear with Leo’s character’s intentions.
There’s a lot more about his relationship with Marty Scorsese, growing up in New York, and at one point, the RS interviewer mentions that Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle is sort of the proto-incel, and DeNiro asks what “incel” means. When it’s explained to him – “It means ‘involuntary celibate.’ It’s a group of young men, primarily online, who have become hostile toward women because they can’t attract them and start sh-tposting about politics while fantasizing about exacting violent revenge” – DeNiro answers with “Yeah, I can see that.”
As for what he says about Trump and politics – I laughed out loud at “I think that if Biden was on a gurney and couldn’t move anything but his eyes to blink ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ he’s our person.” Amen. I feel the same way. Do I think Biden is a perfect Democrat? Of course not, but he’s empathetic and intelligent and he’s got a great team around him, and “any Democrat with a pulse” is better than Donald Trump.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro depart the “Killers Of The Flower Moon” red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2023 in Cannes, France.,Image: 777785239, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
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- Robert De Niro, Director Martin Scorsese, Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio attend the “Killers Of The Flower Moon” photocall at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 21, 2023 in Cannes, France.,Image: 777909567, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
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- Robert De Niro attend the “Killers Of The Flower Moon” photocall at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 21, 2023 in Cannes, France.,Image: 777909894, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
I really hope people learned from 2016 and will vote.
Good job to all the ones who already did.
It’s so important to vote!
I can really see the parallels between what the Republican party wants with Germany in the early 1930s at this point:
– People thinking it won’t be that bad
-People thinking at least they themselves won’t be affected.
-Normal people thinking they can’t to XYZ because the law/practicality/foreign opinion would stop it (hint: none of that stopped the Nazis).
– “But we’re a civilized country so nobody would…” they did.
-Slowly pushing for more and more extreme things. Now even no-fault divorce is being contested by Republicans. That is horrible. It would force people to stay in abusive marriages. And I doubt that will be the end of it if they get that. Did anyone believe 20 years ago that women would have to flee a state because they wanted an abortion, let alone when continuing to carry would be a risk to their life? Hardly anyone did, but yet here we are.
-When the Nazis came to power, they didn’t round up everyone they didn’t want and send them to concentration camps on day 1. It was done slowly, with relatively ‘minor’ rules at first. Someone could not join a football club any more, for instance. The full horrors were introducted step by step.
-The majority of the country did not vote for Hitler in the last election before they got to power. Same in the US, when you look at the popular vote. The only time the Republicans won the popular vote since 1992 was Bush’s second election.
I am not an American, but I have American friends and am getting very worried for the women there. Of course, I already was worried, but they seem to go ever further and further and further.
I agree with you. trump’s recent speeches talking about ‘poisoning “our” blood’ & mass deportations of immigrants…just chilling. this is the man who had mein kampf on his bedside table (although I’m not 100% convinced he can read).
@BeanieBean
Seems more and more it’s not just a coincidence or even just a parallel in how wannabe-dictators behave, but they seem to be getting actual inspiration from history: How to reassure people that it won’t be that bad, while at the same time signalling to their followers what they really want.
Reminded me of another similarity:
In 1923, so a decade before the Nazis fully got into power, Hitler’s band of followers committed a failed coup as well. This is called the Beer Hall Putsch and happened in Munich.
DeNiro says what he thinks. I agree with him about Biden. If somehow Trump isn’t the nominee for whatever reason, I do think we’ve got a big problem with Biden as the nominee, however.
I too agree with him, but I hate when people say things that highlight Biden’s age – because his age will be an issue. And Trump isn’t sipping from the fountain of youth either. BUT I will take Biden over any GOP candidate because it’s the GOP that got us this shithole mess by having no backbone to stand up to Trump. Only a few did – Liz being one of them.
About a year ago I heard Biden address a press conference and I lamented that due to his age he is not being seen for all he can do, what he has done and how he handles with diplomacy. I believe this is the right time to have a person of his caliber but his age will be an issue next year, sadly.
Well said, Seraphina.
The next in line is Madam Vice President Kamala Harris. That is why they pissed and want her replaced or him to drop out all together. It all goe back to a Black woman being leader of the free world and the most powerful.
Yes TIFFANY, I think that is a big part of it
That whole Republican party is bonkers. It’s not a political party. It’s a personality cult. They’re all hostage to Trump’s supporters who are all lunatics. It’s Biden or disaster.
Yeah, I think he’s right about Biden as well. And I think you’re right about Biden if Trump isn’t the one running against him, Sara Lee. Biden would not be my first choice, but any Democrat (human rights, reproductive rights, health care, education, etc) is who I will be voting for! I do wish that the Ds spend more time on getting younger, quality candidates ready to run, because we need to modernize.
I think you make a good point there, ML.
Are there any senators/congress people you think are doing well and deserve more attention?
We were at dinner last night and I brought up how my mom was concerned if Biden dies a month before and could see herself voting for Nikki Haley (sp — I’m not going to look up the spelling). My mother who we used to joke was further to the left of Michael Moore. And the couple we were at dinner with said, “I’d rather vote for a dead Democrat than any Republican.” Totally summed up my thoughts on the subject, and it was such a relief to hear.
@flowerlake – Can I offer a few names? Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the youngest member of Congress, has hit the ground running. NC just gerrymandered rookie congressman Jeff Jackson out of his seat so he’s now running for Attorney General there. Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, is very impressive. My (Washington state) Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell have been there forever. They don’t make many national headlines but they work hard for their constituents.
@Ripley, I can imagine that was a relief.
@Dara, thank you very much for the names. I’m not American, but maybe one thing we can all do is start following promising young people in the Democratic party (and progressive parties all around the world) on social media. It shows the work they do, but also strengthens them as it shows they have support.
The first thing I will do after submitting this comment is looking up all the names you mentioned. Cheers!
Dara, Maria Cantwell is 65 and Patty Murray is 73. I think what what Flowerlake is asking is for YOUNG people to run for office. There aren’t many young people in the house and senate. I think there is going to be more because the young people are getting fed up with the old people there.
I think Biden’s age is fine. He’s taking care if himself. I like to see pictures of him riding his bike. He’s has 40 years of diplomacy behind him. Once upon a time people worked across the aisle and Joe’s good at that. I think he still tries to do that as President. Unfortunately, when you’ve got one party is which is more interested in creating chaos rather than governing it means little is being done. Biden has accomplished a lot and that needs to be stated loudly along with everything the GOP voted AGAINST.
@Saucy&Sassy, I realize my last two names are older, but imo they are doing a good job. Shapiro is 50, but is being mentioned as a presidential hopeful in 2028 so he deserves more attention. As you say, there aren’t a lot of young folk in Congress, but there never has been. But, they are finally getting younger, just slowly.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/01/30/house-gets-younger-senate-gets-older-a-look-at-the-age-and-generation-of-lawmakers-in-the-118th-congress/
Absolutely right! I’ll vote for anyone not named Trump, preferably a Democrat.
Your nickname reflects that well 😀
Most days I can take or leave DeNiro, and Killers of the Flower Moon is no masterpiece (ask a Native American). But no one in the world has ever been so right about Trump. Frankly, I am terrified that he will get in. Again. Then, it will all be over, as in, the great but flawed nation once known as the United States will be over. And, yes, Biden is very old. Just turned 81. We gotta vote for him. I don’t care if he’s 181.
+100
Total extraneous comment: when my family and I were flying back to Europe after visiting family in the States, we passed RdN in the airport during our stopover in NY. That man is tiny! I just looked up his official height—he’s shrunk a lot or someone was recording RdN’s wishful thinking. He does have a magnetic presence though.
A huge percentage of the actors are surprisingly tiny. Also, seeing them onscreen creates a “larger-than-life effect” that dwarfs the real live person as well. I live in LA so I know from whence I’m bloviating.
I have my doubts about Biden’s empathy but let’s say this he has slightly more than Trump.
“Slightly” more than Trump? There’s a massive difference between the two and it’s quite disgusting and telling that you’re implying they’re remotely the same.
Palestinians would like a word….
@Mrs. Banjo: I’ll just add to what Kitten said by saying that Joe’s also continuing to build the wall.
Nah, MrsBanjo is right. The fact is that the US is built on imperialism and genocide and anyone who holds the office of President will by definition be continuing a lot of that (even progressives in this political arena make nasty derisions because it is what it is). But things like speaking in support of trans bills, sending aid to Ukraine, etc – yeah, Biden is better than Trump. Best not to ignore that even if you’re justifiably mad about whatever Biden has done in the past few months.
Also, the whole Trump trying to become military dictator thing. Etc.
Decisions*
If anyone is worried about the Palestinians (as we all should be), there would be a lot more to worry about with Trump or, for that matter, any Republican, as president. By the time the perfect candidate arrives we’ll all be living under fascism. We don’t have that kind of time.
Biden & Trump are worlds apart in their empathy department & I say this disagreeing with Biden’s response from day one to what has been happening in Gaza. But Trump’s response…let’s not kid ourselves & this won’t be the deciding factor in the election anyway. It’s going to be the economy, which Democrats need to do a better job at selling at what’s right & what could be better, & what they will do to make it better.
I’m not American so perhaps this is out of line, but… to the rest of the world, Biden isn’t much different than Trump. Both fully support on-going genocides, both support building the wall, Democrats have leaned into “hardline immigration policy” in order to appease the Republicans… it feels like Americans are really fine with all of that as long as it’s wrapped in a slightly less orange package? Like, Biden is DOING the same things as Trump, he’s just not TALKING about it… so is the criteria that you have to vote for him just because with Trump you were constantly AWARE of the cesspool that is American foreign and domestic policy? Biden lets you not think about the horrible crimes your country is complicit in? I don’t get it.
“Vote for Hitler or vote for 1% less Hitler”… maybe it’s time to demand more?
Biden is “the best”. Except for the 150 plus billion sent for genocidal purposes. Best for who exactly? Trump is trash, but at least I know and expect that from him.
Yup. And the disconnect between young folks who voted for Biden and the blue dogs who blindly support him is really concerning. I hope he beats Trump but it’s scary AF to have a candidate this unpopular going up against that orange monster. I cannot get over the feeling of impending doom…
Biden has already lost. He knows and listens only to the Hillary Clintonites and older and they are all blind in their delusions that their voter pool is still the same as 1992. he does not have a clue that he has lost young people, he has lost Michigan, he is handing over our country to Trump. We desperately need him to stand down and let someone else be the candidate.
Chaine, you’re not from Michigan.
If Biden was dead, he’d still be better than Trump. That’s the point. It’s not that Biden is so great, it’s that Trump is sooo bad. The problem is he’s a white, rich old guy and it gives him a winning pass automatically.
If he loses it will be because of his actions in the Middle East. It’s unbelievable how badly he’s handled this situation. “When will you call for a ceasefire?” “NEVER.” Just so very damning and I still can’t quite believe that he said that on camera, although I do believe that this is how he feels.
If he loses it’s going to be because lazy twats didn’t show up to vote. We’re not a fascist country, but we might be a country lazy enough not to fight fascism at home.
Sigh. Yes.
Thank you. Plain and simple and the damn truth.
Yeah, Trump will definitely roll in those aid trucks to Gaza. /s
They won’t vote, period.
Maybe, but not because of what Biden’s done or not done in the Middle East.
Polls do not show a large amount of popular anger over Biden’s response in the Middle East although I agree it is bad. There is a large international outcry over what’s going on in Gaza and justifiably so and comprises a large amount of Americans in that group, but regular Americans are going to go out and vote because of things like inflation and abortion care etc.
I’d like to think anyone who is invested in the issue of Gaza who decides to abstain from voting because of that is probably also intelligent enough to know that that abstention will only help Trump. Who won’t do anything for Palestinians. But who knows.
Not voting for Biden is a vote for Trump. Real talk.
Robert DeNiro loves NYC and anyone who truly knows and loves NYC hates Trump.
Also: who’d have thunk he’d age so much better than Al Pacino?
I still grieve having lost the chance of having a President Hillary Clinton. Can you just imagine how different our lives would be.
So our choice is a violently genocidal maniac who has never been in the right side of history, who didn’t cancel loans (he knew the Supreme Court wouldn’t back) who is advancing racist immigration “reform,” who pretended to be pro-Union, who hasn’t supported COVID-aware practices, who can bypass Congress to use our money to fund this ethnic cleansing campaign,and who is “handsy” with women,or…. the one who does that and says it with his whole chest?
This sickens me because many of us will vote for him out of fear of his counterpart, but he is not good or empathetic, or liberal. He’s a monster too.
Biden has some important things under his belt you won’t get with Trump. He did in fact attempt to cancel a significant portion of student debt, despite the US Supreme Court blocking that. Nevertheless his administration has been able to accomplish quite a bit of reforms in terms of repayment options and reform of that particular system, which has a massive effect on the lives of people with student loans (me included). Nomination of Ketanji Brown-Jackson, his vast expansion of COVID vaccine supply and access, his championing of reproductive and trans issues, his support of Ukraine – I could go on.
Of course, you have your usual suspects of American politics on the other hand – the US has been passing “ethnic cleansing” aid packages for decades, and let’s not forget that the land we live on is still colonized and indigenous people are still suffering from that. The handsiness with women – deplorable, although a bit different from the trafficking rings Trump was involved with.
There are major differences between these men, and while Biden is not my perfect candidate by any means, it’s extremely dangerous to pretend he and Trump are the same thing. And eventually, Biden will leave office voluntarily. Trump has made it clear he never will.
Thank you, C. I will only add that Democrats have been trying to pass real immigration reform since I was a wee lass. I am now 74. The way our government works (and don’t get me started on the filibuster!) they can’t do anything without at least some Republican support. But immigration has proven to be such a productive wedge issue for them that they don’t want to fix the problems. They do much better politically with the problems in place. The status quo on immigration is just fine with them although they pretend to be outraged.
I have days since Trump was elected, that even today, I still can not understand HOW anyone could ever be in favor of the Orange Idiot as even a local dog catcher.
Words fail me.
The biggest issue for me is his brainwashed followers see his terrible behavior and awful treatment of people, and somehow they think “Yup, Attaboy.” How can they think he will not treat them the same way?
Look at the garbage candidates so far for 2024. Look at them. None of them can even debate like teenagers, it is all yelling, Ron’s boots, garbage.
How and Why has it come to this? Trump is a crook, liar, tried to overthrow the actual US Govt.
Where the hell are the Veterans organizations? They should be leading the charge against Trump 24/7.
JMO, I wish we had younger, candidates on both parties for 2024. Who could speak intelligently and have a plan, address the problems and how to fix them.
Biden seems to be the “Anybody but Trump” candidate. No one thinks Kamala is up to the job. In my area of US anyway.
Trump is garbage but will not go away.
Hilary Clinton had decades of service on the world stage. And all people kept saying is “I don’t like her”
I am concerned for 2024.
And ffs, Pro-choice, safe, affordable health care is STILL needed.
@janes; it’s not that people didn’t like Hilary ; they just don’t like intelligent, well educated women of substance who are leaders on the world stage. Hilary just personified what is frightening to some men.
Another thought. Why not push for Hillary 2024?
I sincerely love Hillary and worked on her campaigns. She has made it abundantly clear that she is done running for office. It took a toll. Even if she were willing, we can’t have a weakened Biden challenged by a credible candidate. It would just split the party and hand the WH to Trump.
The logical move would be for Biden to stand down for Harris. But she is now so damaged by the right wing smear machine, much like Hillary, that she may never get a chance. It’s Biden or Trump. Or some very Trumpy Republican.
She still won the popular vote, though; let’s not forget that.
Regardless, this election, this time, it’ll be Joe Biden running & it’s Joe Biden we need. The thought of trump, or any trump-ass-kisser, is more than I can bear.
As long as we have the Electoral College we are in danger. Everyone loves to “blame the voters”, but Hillary WON the popular vote by something like 3 million votes. And then the Electoral College GAVE the Presidency to idiot Trump. Just as they GAVE the Presidency to idiot Bush after Gore won the popular vote. Remember the “Brooks Brothers Riots”? Conservatives want to RULE and they will do any and everything to get there. Don’t help them.
Yes! Just mentioned this above.
JMO, Harris could not win running for Prez.
Minnesota here and we are traditionally Dem. Hard blue state.
If you’d hear the talk that is gaining ground in my area, you’d be deeply concerned for 2024.
I am. Long time Dems who have worked and volunteered for Dem camps are openly saying they will not support Harris, even if Biden d*es in office.
I know a licensed Social Worker of 20+ years who is openly, constantly talking about the fact that she has joined the Republican party and is on committees to change and “save America” by electing Repubs straight down the ticket. I keep thinking I should record and report her to her Dept Sup. She is a Gov. employee at her job “Speaking her truth”
I walk away as often as I can.
I actually laughed out loud at the title, but the truth is that DeNiro is right on that score. Trump is a menace who’s running for office to stay out of prison and if allowed in office again he would irreparably damage this country’s institutions (even more).
I am still so angry at some of my friends who sat on their hands for Hillary. They thought she would be voted in regardless. So, they would hold their nose and accept her as President but could be smug in knowing they didn’t vote for her. Then acted outraged when Trump was elected. OHHHH did I give them guff over it.
The Trump drum is banging louder and louder every day. Please, please vote for Biden. He will get through another 4 years. And hey, President Kamala Harris doesn’t sound so bad to me. If things go sideways with Joe.
DeNiro is right. What can I say?
I hope he can do a public service announcement and pay for it to run ALOT of airtime.
Agree with all of the above. I already made my choice for 2024: Biden. The US cannot(I mean cannot) afford to have another Trump presidency(or any crazy GOP candidate).
If we look at what’s happening in the world today, some countries are electing their own version of Trump- a domino effect we created 😠.
We need to stop this right now.