Robert De Niro uttered a swear word live on CNN on Sunday before the censors could catch it. The actor dropped an F-bomb in an interview with Brian Stelter as the two discussed President Donald Trump and Fox News. De Niro was on CNN’s Reliable Sources on Sunday for a free-wheeling interview. He and Stelter discussed his outspoken political rhetoric in one clip that has already gone viral. Stelter brought up De Niro’s history of blunt speech about the president, and the dissenters who have called him out for it.
—@BrianStelter asks Robert De Niro about criticism he gets from Fox for speaking out against Trump.
“Fuck em,” De Niro replies. “Fuck em.”
Stelter reminds him, “This is cable, so it’s not an FCC violation, but it is still a Sunday morning.” pic.twitter.com/9IOo1VvXCM
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) September 29, 2019
“Now, when you say that, folks on Fox come after you,” he pointed out. “I remember the Tonys, when you got up there and cursed. A lot of—”
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“F— ’em,” De Niro said, cutting Stelter off. Before he even spoke, the actor was waving a hand and rolling his eyes, dismissive of his critics. He repeated his expletive a few more times for emphasis.
“Okay, well you know, this is cable, so it’s not an FCC violation, but it is still a Sunday morning,” Stelter said. “I really want to know why you choose to go that way.”
De Niro grumbled a “sorry,” but he seemed generally unapologetic for his language. He addressed the broader issue of policing civility in political discussions, particularly surrounding a president as outspoken and unconventional as President Trump.
“Let me say something, we are at a moment in our lives in this country where this guy is like a gangster,” he said. “He’s come along, and he’s said things, done things. We say over and over again, this is terrible, we’re in a terrible situation. We are in a terrible situation. And this guy just keeps going on and on and on without being stopped!”
Earlier in the same interview, De Niro stated that “this guy should not be president, period,” raising no objection from Stelter. As the clip made the rounds online, many people echoed De Niro, and praised him for being so blunt in his political commentary.
“Robert De Niro is my spirit animal,” one person tweeted.
anger comes from frustration.. frustration that trump has been allowed to continue his reign of horror. he has committed crimes against humanity, against our lands, air, food & water. he is a danger to the world. i have been at the ‘FukEm’ level since day 1.
— *Bl4kk4t (@m3bl4kk4t) September 29, 2019
❤️ DeNiro#FuckTrump
“This guy [Brian Stetler] [is] getting more upset that De Niro said a no-no word than, like, at the literal transnational crime syndicate Trump is running from his White House,” added another. “[CNN], at some point, you have to decide if the truth matters.”
Others extended De Niro’s simplistic words to the rest of the opposition to Trump, saying he exemplified the media as a whole. Some questioned why he was a guest on CNN at all. The answer, it seems, is in response to the criticisms of him on Fox News.
“He’s been worse than I ever could have imagined,” De Niro said of the president later. “I think he’s crazy in a way. I think he’s just crazy… This guy is crazy. We gotta get him out.”
