US actor Robert De Niro speaks in support of US President Joe Biden outside of Manhattan Criminal Court as former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends his criminal trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments in New York City, on May 28, 2024.
Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Images
Legendary actor Robert De Niro on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump as a “loser” and a “clown,” standing just feet away from the Manhattan courtroom where the former president was listening to closing arguments in his criminal trial.
“He doesn’t belong in my city,” De Niro, a native New Yorker, said of Trump during a press conference hosted by President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign outside Manhattan Supreme Court.
“We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot. A two-bit playboy lying his way into the tabloids, pretending to be a spokesman — a spokesperson for himself,” De Niro said.
The “Taxi Driver” and “The Godfather Part II” star described Trump as a threat to the United States, and said Trump fomented violence and destruction during the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, by a mob of Trump’s supporters.
De Niro said he decided to lend his talents to a Biden-Harris campaign ad, “because it shows the violence of Trump.”
“But it’s a coward’s violence,” said De Niro. “You think Trump ever threw a punch himself, or took one? This guy, who ran and hid in the White House bunker when there were protesters outside? No way.”
De Niro was joined at the event by former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, one of the thousands of law enforcement officers who fought to protect the Capitol from the pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6.
Immediately following the Biden campaign event, Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller accused Biden of employing a “washed-up actor” to campaign for him in a Hail Mary attempt to reverse Trump’s narrow lead in 2024 election polls.
Miller spoke at the same microphone where De Niro had been speaking moments before.
A short distance away, a fight broke out between rival groups of pro-Trump demonstrators, prompting police to enter the designated protest space to respond.
The De Niro event marks the first time the Biden campaign has appeared outside Trump’s trial, which began more than five weeks ago.
As the criminal trial winds down, the president’s reelection campaign is planning to crank up its attacks on Trump, NBC News reported Friday.
The shift comes ahead of the scheduled June 27 presidential debate between Trump and Biden, the first of two planned debates. While the presidential race is still very close nationally, Trump’s lead in several battleground state polls is increasingly worrying Biden’s Democratic allies.
Trump stands accused of falsifying business records related to his reimbursement of a $130,000 hush money payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges those records were falsified with the intent to conceal an illegal effort to violate election laws.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche began Tuesday’s closing arguments by declaring, “President Trump is innocent.”
“He did not commit any crimes, and the District Attorney has not met their burden of proof,” Blanche said.
Blanche said he expects his closing arguments will last up to two-and-a-half hours. He will be followed by Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor for Bragg, who said his final arguments could last more than four hours.