Robert De Niro Gets Teary-Eyed Urging Americans to Resist Trump

Actor Robert De Niro got teary-eyed on Monday while talking about the direction of the country under President Donald Trump. He appeared on MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace’s podcast The Best People and repeatedly called for people to stand against the administration.

Wallace noted that De Niro, long one of Trump’s most outspoken celebrity critics, holds a visible place in New York City’s identity. She asked what he worries about for the city as the presidency continues. De Niro raised concerns about possible retribution, including the idea of ICE agents being sent in.

“People have to resist, resist, resist, resist, resist. That’s the only way. There’s no magic. There’s no nothing. People are not going to go away, even if Trump dies for some reason by having an illness or something,” he said. “Parts of that movement are still there, and that’s the scary part. It has to be neutralized by the people.”

Wallace later brought up De Niro’s habit of thanking the people who work with him, including in his 1981 Academy Award speech. She asked why he focuses so much on lifting others up. His voice broke as he answered.

“You have to,” he said, starting to cry. “You have to lift people up. You have to bring them together. Period. You can’t divide people. You can’t win that way. It’s a no-win situation.”

He continued, “And look what we have. Look who we have there. It’s almost like our destiny to have this thing there, destroying, attempting to destroy this country and maybe not even understanding why. So it’s up to us to protect the country.”

Wallace told him, “You weren’t supposed to make me cry.” She then asked which way he thinks the political tide will turn.

“I don’t know,” De Niro replied. “All I know is people have to resist, resist, resist, resist. There’s no easy way. It’s not going to come to you easy. You know, there’s a time when you know in your own life and your own survival, you better do this, you better jump and run through the fire. Because if you don’t run through the fire, you’re not getting out, and that’s what we have to do.”

The moment fits the pattern of De Niro’s long-running public criticism of Trump. In the interview he framed the situation as one that requires ordinary people to act rather than wait for someone else to fix it.