- Title: Robert De Niro and Danny DeVito react to surprise Trump victory
- Date: 10th November 2016
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 18, 2011) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ACTOR DANNY DEVITO WITH A STAR ON THE WALK OF FAME
- Embargoed: 25th November 2016 23:49
- Keywords: election reaction Donald Trump Bernie Sanders Danny DeVito Robert De Niro The Comedian
- Location: BEVERLY HILLS/LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: BEVERLY HILLS/LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA00557V6I4N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: AUDIO AS INCOMING
During the run-up to the U.S. election, Hollywood actor Robert De Niro did not shy away from openly attacking the now president-elect Donald Trump, labelling him a "punk", a "dog", an "idiot", a "national disaster" and even said he wanted to "punch him in the face."
However, while doing press for his new film 'The Comedian', in which De Niro plays a washed up television comic trying to find a new path in life, the actor was more restrained in his view on the election result.
"Well he's elected president now and I think half of the country is horrified and many parts of the world are," the 73-year old told Reuters. "We're going to see how he does. That's it. It's a fait accompli. As far as being president, we wait and see but I give the benefit of the doubt that he's going to try his best because if he doesn't do the right thing, it will affect him and his family too so we're all in this together and it's the most that I can say."
But did he still want to punch him in the face? "No," replied De Niro. "He had said that at one of his rallies and I was so offended by that, that he would actually say that that that's why I said that and nobody had said it to him."
Trying to explain why the polls got the election result so wrong, De Niro replied "Well certain elements of society are very dissatisfied and unhappy and maybe part of it is because the recession in 2007 and 2008 that certain banks and certain people who had money made more and more money and screwed the people with the mortgages and they gave people houses that they shouldn't have given houses to and these people are resentful and they're caught in the middle and they don't get anything and they're pissed off and that's why Bernie Sanders appealed to them too. No-one ever felt that Trump was the answer as it was a lot of talk. Now we're going to see."
His co-star Danny DeVito, who plays his brother in the film, also tried to explain the shock result, saying "Corporate America and the media supported the candidate that they wanted to have in office. I'm a Bernie fan. I was thinking that Bernie would beat Trump hands down because Bernie was telling the truth and he also had a groundswell of young people voting for him. The corporate media gave Bernie 250 times less coverage. They would rather hold the camera on an empty podium and wait until Donald Trump came out and said some ridiculous thing than tell the people what Bernie Sanders was talking about."
He added "If 53 per cent of the women in the United States voted for Donald Trump after all that crap that he's such a pig. What does that mean? That means you're tired of all the hooha and bull crap of what we say is a democratic society."
'The Comedian' goes on release in January 2017 but will have its world premiere at the AFI film festival on Friday (November 11). - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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