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Shortly after Joe Biden announced late Sunday afternoon that he would not be seeking a second term as president, two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro affirmed his support for Vice-President Kamala Harris as the party’s new, younger, candidate.
“In an act of shrewd politics and selfless patriotism, Joe Biden is stepping aside to clear the path for another Democrat to become president… because there is nothing more important for our country than defeating Donald Trump at the ballot box,” De Niro said in a statement issued via spokesman Stan Rosenfeld. “With respect, admiration, and affection, thank you Mr. President!”
Biden’s announcement followed intense fallout from prominent Democrats and big-name donors including Hollywood megastar George Clooney, who took the 81-year-old president’s dismal debate performance last month against Trump as a sign he would not be able to beat the New York City real estate developer and onetime reality show host in November’s general election.
At the same time, Trump—who was injured exactly a week ago in an unsuccessful assassination attempt—shored up his party’s allegiance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he announced memoirist and junior senator JD Vance as his pick for VP.
Biden’s decision to step aside marks the first time in nearly 60 years that a president has cut short a reelection bid. Following the announcement, Trump, who briefly tried out a less bellicose public persona after being shot, called Biden the “worst president by far in the history of our country.”
In late May, De Niro appeared on behalf of the Biden campaign outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, where Trump was on trial for—and ultimately convicted of—34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up a one-night stand with porn actress Stormy Daniels.
“I love this city. I don’t want to destroy it,” De Niro said. “Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city, but the country, and eventually he could destroy the world… We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler, masquerading as a big shot, a two-bit playboy lying his way into the tabloids.”
De Niro added that Trump was “a clown,” and New Yorkers saw through his act. However, others around the country saw Trump playing a tycoon on television and “bought into his bulls***.”
“When Trump ran in 2016, it was like a joke,” De Niro continued. “This buffoon running for president. No, never could happen. We’d forgotten the lessons of history that showed us other clowns who weren’t taken seriously until they became vicious dictators. With Trump, we have a second chance and no one is laughing now. This is the time to stop him by voting him out once and for all… Under Trump, this kind of government will perish from the earth.”
“I don’t mean to scare you,” De Niro said. “No, no, wait, maybe I do mean to scare you.”
If a second Trump administration were to take back the White House, De Niro warned that Americans can “kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted.”
“And elections, forget about it,” he said. “That’s over, that’s done. If he gets in, I can tell you right now, he will never leave. He will never leave. You know that. He will never leave.”
