Forget the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups, the National Security Agency spying on the American people and the looming train wreck that is Obamacare. According to actor Robert De Niro, President Barack Obama is “trying his best” and simply playing “the political game.”
De Niro appeared in DuJour magazine for the publication’s September issue, discussing his 70th birthday and new movie, The Family. But the Goodfellas star also touched on President Obama’s presidency, and De Niro — an ardent supported of 44 — cut Obama some slack amidst a second term plagued by scandals and an impending war in Syria.
“He’s trying his best. He’s going to do things that people feel are not right or violating one right or another. But at the end of the day, he represents, I think, the best of the type of people that I would like to see running the government,” De Niro told DuJour. “He has to play that game, the political game. They all do. They make statements they can’t honor because they’re impossible to honor. Once you get into that Washington machinery, you’ve just got to figure it out and swim against the current and grab onto this rock and that, and just try to maintain your course.”
The actor continued, likening working in the federal government to directing a movie.
“You know, it’s one thing to be a critic,” De Niro said. “It’s another thing to be directly involved. It’s like directing a movie and you edit the film and then someone will give you a suggestion: ‘You could do this, you could do that.’ You look and you say, ‘Yeah, but the reason I can’t do that is because I don’t have that shot, and if I use this shot that’s better here, it impacts on this one and it’s a story point.’
“In other words, it can’t be done. You have to make these choices with the government, and you’re going to be criticized. If you took the time to explain it all to the public, they’d say, ‘OK, I get it.’ Can you explain to everybody? No. You just have to say, ‘I made this choice because I felt it was the right choice.'”
De Niro, who turned 70 last month, campaigned for President Obama during both the 2008 and 2012 elections. The actor held a rally supporting Obama days before Super Tuesday in 2008 and partnered with First Lady Michelle Obama at a fundraiser for the President’s re-election campaign. His comments at the event, though, sparked controversy after he asked the crowd, “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white First Lady?”
Despite De Niro’s support for him, the American people aren’t too keen on President Obama. According to a new NBC News poll, the President’s approval rating sank to 44 percent, the lowest it’s been since 2011 when the nation’s credit rating was downgraded.
h/t POLITICO
