Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro has been vocal about his disdain for former President Donald Trump since his initial presidential run. In a recent interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on “The 11th Hour,” De Niro made comparisons between Trump and historical dictators like Hitler and Mussolini.
De Niro referred to Trump in various negative terms, such as “a sick person,” “narcissistic,” “a monster,” and “a stupid bully.” The actor also expressed concern over the potential return of Trump to the Oval Office, emphasizing the danger it would pose.
De Niro pointed out the lack of understanding among some voters about the risks of another Trump presidency. When asked by Ruhle about those who say they don’t like Trump but would vote for him anyway, De Niro responded that they might not grasp the full implications of Trump’s leadership. He drew parallels to Hitler and Mussolini, stating that these historical figures were initially dismissed as clowns, yet their rise to power led to chaos beyond imagination.
De Niro elaborated on the comparison by sharing stories from people who lived through the horrors of Nazi Germany and other totalitarian regimes. He noted that he began to understand these historical events better as he got older, acknowledging that the threat of history repeating itself is not as far-fetched as it once seemed.
In his conversation with Ruhle, De Niro reiterated his belief that Trump is not only a bully but also a “stupid bully.” He had previously discussed with MSNBC’s Ari Melber in 2020 how Trump used a similar playbook to dictators like Mussolini and Hitler, emphasizing the dangers of authoritarianism and totalitarian tactics.
Ruhle: What do you say to those who say, “I don’t like the guy, but I’m going to vote for him”? What’s your message to that?
De Niro: I don’t understand it. I don’t I don’t think they understand how dangerous it will be if he ever, God forbid, becomes president. I don’t think they really understand. And historically, from what I see, even in Nazi Germany, they had it with Hitler. They don’t take him seriously. “He looks like a clown. Acts like a clown.” Mussolini. Same thing. These guys, I don’t know why they look like clowns. They somehow people… That element of society identifies in some ways with them. But it would be chaos beyond our imagination. There’s no mystery about him. He’s right out front. And what he says is what it’ll be if he becomes president.
That wasn’t De Niro’s only invocation of Hitler:
We always hear about people from Eastern Europe, the Jews from other parts of Eastern Europe, from Western Europe coming over. Look what happened with France, and with the Nazis and so on. And they come over and you hear these, and they go, and when I was a kid, they’d say, “You don’t really appreciate this country, you know, what we know from experience.” Imagine what those people went through. I’m just starting to see it. You know, as a kid, I said “Hitler, it’s a nightmare that never would happen.” But now I see that it’s possible. But those people, sometimes I run into some people who are close to my age, who are from Eastern Europe, European countries or even Nazi Germany and, you know, they… you understand it.
