Robert De Niro Attacks Trump at a Free Speech Event, Audience Shouts

Robert De Niro. (Wikimedia Commons - Josh Jensen)

JAKARTA - Robert De Niro again attacked Donald Trump publicly. The two-time Oscar-winning actor launched criticism in the "Rise Up" event in New York, which was held to celebrate the First Amendment.

The First Amendment is a part of the United States Constitution that protects freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and expression.

Launching a report by HuffPost, quoted on Monday, June 15, De Niro said he almost supported freedom of speech absolutely. Including for speech that he did not like.

"So when I hear something I don't like, I use my own freedom of speech to respond to it," De Niro said.

After that, he mentioned several Trump statements that he thought needed to be answered.

When referring to Trump's remarks about the financial condition of American citizens, De Niro answered with a short sentence: "Shut your mouth." The audience was immediately noisy.

The remark referred to a famous scene in the 1988 classic film Midnight Run. Viewers caught the cue and cheered.

De Niro then referred to Trump's statement about inflation. He invited the audience to say the same sentence. The whole room shouted, "Shut your mouth."

He also alluded to Trump's claim that he won the 2020 election. Again, De Niro and the audience responded with a similar sentence.

HuffPost noted that De Niro, 82, has long been one of Trump's harshest critics. Their relationship is often heated. After De Niro once responded to Trump's state of the union address with his own version, Trump called him a "sick and crazy person".

In his speech, De Niro also said it was difficult to love the United States in the current political climate. He used a sharp metaphor. Loving the country, according to De Niro, began to sound like a victim of violence who said he still loved the perpetrator.

He then delivered a list of criticisms of the Trump administration. De Niro criticized the war, which he called stupid and inhumane, the withdrawal of health services for millions of people, the use of masked police, family separation, and leadership that he valued as racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic.

De Niro said he had loved America for most of his life. But he felt his country was changing under Trump.

"I want to love my country again," De Niro said. "I want my country back."

De Niro's statement came under scrutiny for being delivered at an event that promoted free speech. In his speech, he used the same right to respond to Trump's statement which he considered to be wrong.