The Guardian: The actor and long-time critic of Donald Trump receives a standing ovation at Sunday night’s Tony awards in New York after attacking the US president on stage at Radio City Music Hall
"It's no longer 'down with Trump,' it's 'fuck Trump,'" Robert De Niro told the audience.
Story highlights De Niro was bleeped at the Tony Awards
His comments were both hailed and nailed
(CNN) Tell us how you really feel Robert De Niro.
The venerable actor ended up getting bleeped Sunday night at the Tony Awards when he dropped some f-bombs about President Donald Trump while introducing a performance by Bruce Springsteen.
"First, I wanna say, 'f**k Trump,'" De Niro said. "It's no longer 'Down with Trump,' it's 'f**k Trump.'"
The comments, which were not censored in the Australian telecast, earned De Niro a standing ovation from the crowd at New York's Radio City Music Hall and stirred conversation on social media.
Robert De Niro is my favorite rapper. — 🌹 Ferrari Sheppard (@stopbeingfamous) June 11, 2018
Hey America,
Want to know why Robert De Niro said "f-k Trump"
last night at the Tonys?
Because he was born in Trump's hometown of NYC.
Like all New Yorkers, he knows @realDonaldTrump
If you don't feel the same way about him yet
you don't know him like New Yorkers do
But you will — UNITE & FIGHT (@stopthenutjob) June 11, 2018
Read More
Let’s just go ahead and put this on the table: Donald Trump is a hideous leader. He’s a narcissist who treats women like worthless sex objects, scoffs at human rights and refuses to listen to anybody about anything. He doesn’t understand foreign trade, has unwittingly turned centuries-old allies into fickle frenemies and would rather bend over for the NRA than take miniscule steps to protect children from being shot to death at school.
The polls don’t lie. Most Americans are sick and tired of Donald Trump and his witless cronies, and they want him kicked to the kerb before he can further tarnish the American tradition. There’s so much anger in the air you could cut it with a knife – and that’s why any act of defiance, no matter how small, generates disproportionate heaps of praise.
Take last night’s Tony Awards, for example. Acting legend Robert De Niro strolled on-stage at New York’s Radio Music Hall, ditched the teleprompter and veered about 30 yards off-topic to let the cameras know precisely what was on his mind: “F**k Trump.”
There wasn’t much more to it than that, to be honest – but De Niro won himself a bigger and more raucous standing ovation than when he snagged his Best Actor Oscar for Raging Bull. The audience loved it – the internet loved it – and even the presenters who followed broke from their tightly-lipped scripts to give De Niro a tip of the hat for his balls and passion.
It was probably ratings gold.
But you know what? As much as I absolutely adore hearing Hollywood royalty unload some rich expletives on the White House (and I do), De Niro’s hilarious outburst was actually a little bit depressing – because at the end of the day, it’s merely symptomatic of the rot infestation that’s been crippling liberal America for years.
You see, thus far Democrats haven’t really bothered with a concerted strategy to defeat Donald Trump. After all, the guy’s a conservative caricature bordering on downright Looney Tune – who needs strategy? In any ordinary political climate, all you’d have to do is point out Trump’s bankruptcies, tumultuous personal life and unforgivable comments about grabbing women “by the pussy” to send him back to the shadows from whence he came.
But unlike the sleazy politicians of yesteryear, Donald Trump and his support base just don’t care. Accusations of sexual assault and racism simply bounce off Trump like cannonballs on a Civil War ironclad. Nothing happens. Yet for whatever reason, liberals just keep on waving this sensational stuff in the air without any trace of context, and then react with shock and malice every time an offensive tweet fails to result in automatic impeachment.
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It sucks, because Donald Trump has done dirtier deeds than Richard Nixon could ever hope to achieve in 30 terms as president – but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. The American political system is designed to preserve the status quo. So if the guy won’t resign, and Congress hasn’t got enough compassion for life on earth to impeach, Donald Trump is going to keep on burying the US Constitution in greasy McDonald’s wrappers until he damn well pleases.
That’s why seeing celebrities take to the stage and toss out solitary and seemingly random “f**k Trump”s is getting a bit old now, to be honest.
Yes, we all agree Donald Trump is a complete and utter idiot – but instead of slagging him off and then moving swiftly on to the next Tony Award, let’s talk about the world we would create in Trump’s stead. Whether we care to admit it, Democrats of the post-Obama era aren’t very good at selling themselves. Much like the UK’s struggling Labour voices, American liberals are always quick to point out everything conservative incumbents are bad at – without giving us much insight as to how their party could do any better.
Yet as we march nervously into November’s crucial midterm elections, America’s fragmented left has the power to unite and completely castrate Donald Trump by flipping Congress. That’s where the road to impeachment, or at the very least silencing the White House, begins. It is possible. But until Democrats and their iconic, A-list patrons give us a positive and proactive message to work with, swing voters are just going to continue dismissing the left as whiny, short-sighted and easily offended elitists.
Don’t get me wrong: Robert De Niro and everybody he knows should keep on saying “f**k Trump” every chance they get. It's how we all feel. But in order to accomplish something, that sentiment needs to be immediately followed by an explanation of who and what we should be voting for instead – and above all else, why.
Until liberals can answer for that “why” and start to build a cohesive and proactive policy agenda, America’s political future is in grave turmoil.
