Given the chance, Robert De Niro might like to punch President-elect Donald Trump in the face as the Republican candidate’s campaign, marked by fear-mongering and hate speech, has come to a victorious end. But he’s fighting that feeling.
A month before the election, De Niro hurled an avalanche of insults at Trump in a viral “Get Out The Vote” commercial, describing the candidate as “so blatantly stupid” and “a bullshit artist,” to whom he’d enjoy introducing his fists. In light of the impending Trump presidency, however, De Niro recanted his intentions to go all “Raging Bull” on the former reality TV host while visiting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to promote his new film, “The Comedian.”
“I can’t [punch Trump] now, he’s the president,” De Niro reluctantly admitted to Kimmel. “And I have to respect that position, although we all know what he ... You know, I just have to see what he’s gonna do and how he’s really gonna follow through on certain things. As we can see now in a lot of cities, a lot of people are getting very upset and protesting.”
De Niro told Kimmel he’s “not feeling good” about the election results himself, and went on to discuss the anti-Trump protests that broke out across the country on Wednesday night. The late-night host appeared to take issue with the demonstrators, echoing President Obama’s Wednesday afternoon remarks that Americans must accept Trump as their president regardless of their political views.
“I’m sure President Obama is speaking from his own personal experience when he didn’t get a lot of support, and he’s saying, ‘Hey, we have to… you know, we’re all on the same team,” Kimmel remarked before joking that teammates “do punch each other in the face” occasionally.
To which De Niro replied, “You know, maybe [Obama] will when he sees him tomorrow.”
Watch a clip from the interview below:
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