Calling it like he sees it. Robert De Niro compared Donald Trump to his mentally disturbed character, Travis Bickle, in the 1976 film Taxi Driver, Saturday, August 13, calling the presidential candidate “totally nuts.”
The film icon was presenting a digital version of Martin Scorsese’s cult classic at the Sarajevo Film Festival in honor of its 40th anniversary when he made the comments.
“I don’t know, it’s crazy that people like Donald Trump … he shouldn’t even be where he is, so God help us,” the 72-year-old actor said as the audience cheered and applauded, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “What he’s been saying is really totally crazy, ridiculous … he is totally nuts.”
De Niro added that in spite of Trump’s popularity, however, there have been some signs that suggest the tide may soon shift — at the very least, ahead of the November presidential election.
“But I think now they are really starting to push back, the media,” he said after noting that he felt like the news cycle granted Trump, 70, too much airtime. “Finally they are starting to say, ‘Come on Donald, this is ridiculous, this is nuts, this is insane.’”
This is not the first time that De Niro has spoken out against Trump on a public stage.
In April, at the Tribeca Film Festival, the actor made it clear that he was referring to the Republican presidential candidate when he told MSNBC news anchor Brian Williams during an onstage interview: “I won’t mention names, but there are certain people on the news in the last couple of weeks — what they’re doing is crazy … It’s like a big hustle. It’s like being a car salesman. Don’t go out there and say things unless you can back them up. How dare you? It’s awful. Just go out there and speak and say these terrible things? … It’s crazy.”
