Robert De Niro used his speech at the National Board of Review awards to deliver a devastating and profanity filled denunciation of President Donald Trump.
The Goodfellas star introduced The Post, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks’ film about U.S. political corruption in the 1970s, as the best picture winner at the ceremony on Tuesday (09Jan18) and used the moment to slam the president.
According to a transcript obtained by the New York Times, De Niro took a jab at Trump’s recent comment that he was a “stable genius” and also called him the “j**k-off in chief” and a “f**king fool.”
De Niro said, “Today the world is suffering from real Donald Trump. Come on. You know. What are we talking about? This f**king idiot is the president. It’s the Emperor’s New Clothes – the guy is a f**king fool.”
The Post tells the story of how journalists uncovered the Pentagon Papers, documents revealing details of America’s war in Vietnam that President Richard Nixon attempted to keep hidden.
The 74-year-old said Nixon, who resigned in 1974 after being implicated in the Watergate scandal, compared favorably to Trump.
Although the actor said the disgraced 1970s president was “delusional, narcissistic, petty, vindictive, nasty and bats**t f**king crazy” he said Nixon’s reign represented the “good old days” compared to having Trump as a leader.
The President has faced renewed scrutiny over the past week, after the publication of The Fire and the Fury, journalist Michael Wolff’s insider account of the first six months of the Trump administration.
Wolff alleges Trump expected to fail in his bid for the presidency, and that he is mentally unfit for president as he is unable to concentrate for longer than short periods – and often forgets the names of old acquaintances.
Trump threatened legal action to block the publication of the book, but it was released last Friday.
