“He reminds me of The Godfather, who I played in 'Goodfellas'. There is no structure, everything is done in chaos and madness.” When Elise Lucet receives a legendary actor like Robert De Niro in “Envoyé Spécial”, it is not to talk about cinema… but politics. In an exclusive interview, he exposes all the bad things he thinks about Donald Trump.
“Trump is not the eccentric uncle of the family, he is a dangerous person.” “To New Yorkers, he’s an idiot.” “He's a damaged person. And we let him damage the whole country. And incidentally the whole world. It's scary!”
Robert De Niro does not have harsh enough words for the former Republican president who threatens to return to the White House. In 2016, at the start of his first mandate, the interpreter of Taxi Driver a you Godfather described him as “pig”, of “vaurien”, d'”crook”. Eight years later, he finds that Trump is “sick”, and that he is “evil incarnate”. “There’s nothing good in him, nothing.” Could this be an obsession? At his age (81), the actor denies, he really doesn't “no desire to [s’]take care of that.” But he, who was previously not particularly involved in politics, made this fight his responsibility. Like in April 2024, when he gave (at the request of the Democratic camp) a press conference in front of the court where Donald Trump was appearing for the Stormy Daniels case.
“This guy shames us, he shames my country”
In the United States, where the “Special Envoy” teams followed the home stretch of the tumultuous presidential campaign, it is difficult these days to talk about anything other than politics… Even when we receive a cinema legend like Robert De Niro. Elise Lucet spoke with the actor in New York, for an interview broadcast on November 5, 2024, the day of the election of the 47th president of the United States.
Is the actor worried about what is happening in his country? “Oui, he replies seriously. It worries everyone here. It's terrible. If Trump unfortunately becomes president, he will do what he promised. He will authorize his teams to take control of everything, to attack people they had spotted.”
“It’s fascism, American style”
“It reminds me of The Godfather that I played in Freedmen, he continues. There's a scene where the young gangster played by Ray Liotta comes to me and says, 'We'll take care of so-and-so,' and I say, 'Kill him.' The other asks 'Right away?' but as I'm playing cards, I say 'That'll wait until tomorrow'. Everything depends on a whim. There is no structure, everything is done in chaos and madness. And it's the people around him who are the most dangerous.”
If the former Republican president were to return to the White House, De Niro promises him “a colossal opposition”, more “legal”. “He will not have his hands free, nor those around him,” he says.
An interview broadcast in “Special correspondent” at the heart of the American election, November 5, 2024.
