Hollywood actor Robert De Niro used a New York stage Sunday night to declare that he cant love a country thats led by Donald Trump, turning a First Amendment-themed concert into a broadside against the sitting President and the nation itself.
The remarks came during the Rise Up, Sing Out protest concert at New Yorks Town Hall, where De Niro told the crowd he does not currently love the United States. As reported by Mediaite, the veteran performer framed his comments as a lament over Americas direction under President Trump and a Congress he derided as compliant.
Our country isnt so lovable right now, De Niro said, drawing loud cheers from the audience. I hate to say it, but loving our country is starting to sound like an abused spouse saying they love their abuser. I cant love a country that starts stupid and inhumane wars. Killing thousands of innocents and indirectly causing the deaths and suffering of millions more.
He went on to accuse the nation of deliberately stripping healthcare from citizens and enriching what he called the Trump-Epstein class. I cant love a country that takes healthcare away from millions of people and uses that money to enrich their pals in the Trump-Epstein class, he continued, before alleging that the United States sends out masked militias to shoot citizens in the streets, torture our neighbors, and separate families.
De Niro then escalated his rhetoric, branding the nations leadership as morally illegitimate. I cant love a country thats led by a racist, misogynist, xenophobic tyrant. And let me just say it, I cant love the country thats led by Donald Trump. And a sycophant Congress.
After a brief pause, the actor contrasted his current anger with what he described as a once-deep affection for America. For most of my life, of course, I did love this country, De Niro said, praising the United States for welcoming his immigrant ancestors and providing such rich opportunities and extraordinary freedoms.
He insisted he wants to love my country again and tied that desire to progressive political activism. I want my country back. Thats why I stand with the committee for the First Amendment. And you, all of you. Together we rise up, we sing out, we keep organizing, and we fall in love again.
De Niro had delivered a similar message at a Washington protest on February 24, where he posed a pair of stark rhetorical questions. Let me ask you, can you love a country where our neighbors are shot down in the streets by masked government thugs? he asked, adding, Can you love a country that denies healthcare for tens of millions of our fellow citizens?
On Sunday, however, he removed any ambiguity by explicitly tying his refusal to love America to President Trumps leadership. His remarks, celebrated by the left-leaning audience, underscore how some in Hollywood now equate patriotism not with loyalty to country and Constitution, but with opposition to a President they despise, a stance many conservatives see as contempt for the very nation that afforded these celebrities their fame and fortune.
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