Robert De Niro has taken another swipe at Donald Trump ahead of the upcoming election, calling the former president and his supporters "not real Republicans."
The 81-year-old actor, known for his outspoken views on Trump, recently referred to him as “a jerk” and “an idiot” during an interview on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? on Max.
Now he has hit out again, saying: “He cannot hold anything together. He wants to destroy the country.”
At the New York premiere of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, De Niro made a quip about Trump directing the film. “Imagine Trump directing Megalopolis—it’d go nowhere, total chaos. He can’t do anything,” De Niro said, according to Deadline.
The actor added: “And he could not do this movie. He could not do anything that has a structure.”
Commenting on the film's political themes and Coppola's warnings about the rise of authoritarian leaders, the Taxi Driver star expressed his concern, saying he is "worried” during the Q&A at AMC Lincoln Square Imax.
He continued: “I see the things in Francis’ film about that, the parallels and so on.
“To me, it’s not over ’till it’s over and we have to go at this wholeheartedly to beat the Republicans – those Republicans, they’re not real Republicans – and beat Trump.
“It’s that simple. We cannot have that type of person. Everybody has to get out there and vote.”
Director Spike Lee, who took part in a 30-minute Q&A alongside De Niro and Coppola before the NYC screening, shared similar sentiments about Trump.
The 67-year-old shared: “As my sister says, forward not backwards. It’s simple: Register to vote and show up.
“This election is going to be very, very close. I’m a big sports fan and, the expression you used, it’s not over ’till it’s over. We cannot just think that the game is over when it’s not.”
Coppola mentioned that he had "deliberately" cast actors who have publicly supported the current Republican party in his film. While he didn't name anyone specifically, Jon Voight, a known Trump supporter, appears in Megalopolis.
