Robert De Niro, noted critic of Donald Trump, praised the “No Kings” protests over the weekend, saying it’s important people “don’t let up” because the president “does not want to leave the White House.”
The actor appeared on MSNBC’s The Weekend on Sunday and took the opportunity to speak out against Trump attempting to remain in office for a third term, as well as how Americans are standing up against him.
“The original No Kings protest was 250 years ago,” De Niro noted, referring to the American Revolution, which began in 1775. “Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III. They declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy. We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy since then. Often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential, and we fought in two World Wars to preserve it.”
He added, “Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away? King Donald I. Fuck that. We are rising up again this time. Nonviolently raising our voices to declare ‘No Kings.’”
De Niro said he was “very happy” to see an estimated seven million Americans turning out for the “No Kings” marches. “We need much more of it going forward, because that’s the only thing that the politicians are going to recognize, either face the wrath of Trump or the wrath of the people,” the actor said. “And they have to be more afraid of the wrath of the people and realize this is not good. I better strap on my balls and do something about it.”
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He said of continuing the effort, “We can’t let up. Cannot let up on him because he is not going to leave the White House. He does not want to leave the White House. He will not leave the White House. Anybody thinks he, oh, he’ll do this, he’ll do that. It’s just deluding themselves. The Republicans, most of all, because they know, but they’re going along with it. It’s a classic bully situation. We see it, and there’s no other way to face a bully; you have to face him and fight it out and back them off and back him down. That’s the only way this is going to work.”
Americans in all 50 states marches against Trump and his policies on Saturday. The day marked the second iteration of the “No Kings” protests, following a massive effort on June 14. Several celebrities voiced their support for the protests, including John Cusack, who marched in Chicago. “No, you can’t put troops on our streets,” Cusack said to Trump, speaking on CNN. “You can’t create enough chaos to invoke the Insurrection Act so you can stay in power. We all know what your plan is.” He added, “Go to hell!”
