Actor Robert De Niro bashed President Trump during an acceptance speech for his lifetime achievement award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
De Niro, 76, has made a habit of ripping Trump during award show speeches, and he didn’t break the trend on Sunday night. After accepting his lifetime achievement award from Leonardo DiCaprio, De Niro condemned Trump for his “abuse of power” ahead of the Senate impeachment trial. The actor claimed that he needed to use his platform to speak out.
“There’s right and there’s wrong, and there’s common sense and there’s abuse of power,” De Niro said. “And as a citizen, I have as much right as anybody, an actor, an athlete, a musician, anybody else, to voice my opinion. And if I have a bigger voice because of my situation, I’m going to use it whenever I see a blatant abuse of power.”
During the Tony Awards in April, De Niro called Trump “a total loser” and a “wannabe gangster.”
De Niro’s speech appeared to also be a jab at Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais. The comedian opened the Golden Globes by warning actors against using their position to grandstand about political issues.
“If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg,” Gervais said. “So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your god, and f— off.”
“If I have a bigger voice because of my situation, I am going to use it whenever I see a blatant misuse of power.” While accepting the SAG Life Achievement Award, Robert De Niro gets political. Watch: https://t.co/Zlp3I16dKh #SAGAwards pic.twitter.com/VS75dm9IsJ
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 20, 2020
