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“Real Time”: Robert De Niro says a vote for Trump is a vote for living in a nightmare

In a conversation with Bill Maher, De Niro urged voters to pick Biden so we can "go back to normalcy"

Senior Culture Editor

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Robert De Niro speaks onstage during the Tribeca Storytellers: Robert De Niro & JR In Conversation At Tribeca Festival during Art Basel Miami Beach at Miami Beach Botanical Garden on December 09, 2023 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)
Robert De Niro speaks onstage during the Tribeca Storytellers: Robert De Niro & JR In Conversation At Tribeca Festival during Art Basel Miami Beach at Miami Beach Botanical Garden on December 09, 2023 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

Appearing as a guest on "Real Time with Bill Maher" days before the Oscars on Sunday, having been nominated for the award of best supporting actor for his role in "Killers of the Flower Moon," Robert De Niro veered away from awards season chit-chat to speak on a subject he's become well-versed on, how Donald Trump is "a total monster."

At the 2018 Tony Awards, De Niro used his time on stage to make his opinions on the man known, saying, "F**k Trump" while introducing Bruce Springsteen's musical performance that night, and his views have definitely not changed, telling Maher on Friday that people should go ahead and vote for him if they wanna live in a nightmare.

"The bottom line is, it's Biden versus Trump," De Niro said. "We wanna live in a world that we wanna live in and enjoy living in, or a nightmare? Vote for Trump. You'll get the nightmare. Vote for Biden, we'll be back to normalcy."

Pressed to weigh-in on why he thinks Trump seems to be winning, even gaining more votes with women this time around, De Niro didn't have an answer, saying he just doesn't want to feel the way he felt when Trump won in 2016.

"The guy is a total monster," he said. "I don't understand it. I guess they get behind the kind of logic, they wanna f**k with people, screw them because they're unhappy with something. He's such a mean, nasty, hateful person. I'd never play him as an actor because I can't see any good in him. Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing redeemable in him." And, coming from a guy who's spent most of his career playing mobsters and killers, this says a lot.

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By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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