Robert De Niro criticizes ‘clown’ Trump at Biden counter event in New York trial

The Biden campaign denounced former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy during their first press conference held outside the courthouse where Trump’s hush money trial case is wrapping up.

Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro joined the campaign in Manhattan along with Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, former police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, where he blasted Trump as a “clown” and claimed Trump would be a danger to the nation if he is reelected.

“If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted,” De Niro said as onlookers shouted profanities at him while he spoke. “And elections. Forget about it. That’s over. That’s done. If he gets in, I can tell you right now, he will never leave.”

As the conference continued, the Republican National Committee excoriated De Niro for wearing a mask and participating in a “deranged witch hunt” against Trump in a social media post. The conference was unusually chaotic as protesters yelled epithets and a car alarm disrupted De Niro as he spoke.

At one point De Niro had to contend with a bystander who defended the Jan. 6 rioters and called the police officers “traitors.”

“I don’t even know how to deal with you, my friend,” De Niro said to the man in a bit of back-and-forth at the press conference.

De Niro recently narrated a 30-second “Snapped” ad for the Biden campaign that blasted Trump for being “out of control” when he lost the 2020 election.

“I hope this new ad campaign reaches outside the bubble to remind supporters of what a danger he is to our lives. This is not a threat. This is our reality,” De Niro warned. “And that’s why I’ve joined the Biden-Harris campaign because the only way to preserve our freedoms and hold on to our humanity is to vote for Joe Biden for president.”

In a twist of the law-and-order campaign that Republicans have long run in support of, De Niro also blamed rising crime rates on Trump.

“It’s no surprise that the murder rate and other violent crimes peaked under Trump and are now falling under Biden,” he said. “And now he’s promising to use our own military to attack U.S. citizens. That’s the tyrant.”

Trump’s campaign surrogates quickly responded to the allegations from De Niro, slamming him as a “retread” in their own press conference on Tuesday.

“The Biden folks have finally done it. After months of saying politics had nothing to do with this trial, they showed up and made a campaign event of a lower Manhattan trial day for President Trump,” said Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller, who argued Biden made the public relations change because he’s losing in the polls. “President Trump’s numbers continue to rise and the best that Biden can do is roll out a washed up actor.”

Tuesday marks the beginning of the closing arguments of the trial against Trump after more than four weeks and nearly two dozen witnesses testified before the jury. The Biden campaign has stayed away from commenting on the trial until Tuesday during the surprise press conference.

Other Biden campaign surrogates pointed to the violence of the Capitol riot as an example of why Trump should not be reelected. They, too, were met with profanities and a car alarm blasting as they spoke.

“I came here today to remind Americans of what Donald Trump is capable of,” Fanone said. “And the violence that he unleashed on all Americans on Jan. 6, 2021.”

Fanone recounted the harrowing story of being beaten by protesters who descended on the Capitol in 2021.

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“I’m just one representative of the hundreds of police officers that were assaulted that day by Donald Trump supporters inspired by his lies,” he said. “The lies that continue to this day to inspire my fellow Americans to turn against their fellow Americans to turn against police officers.”

Dunn recently lost a Democratic primary for Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District this month but has continued to campaign with Democrats against Trump, who he blames for the Capitol riot.

“Donald Trump is the greatest threat to our democracy and the safety of communities across the country today,” Dunn said. “Political violence is never acceptable. But you have a presidential candidate, you have a presidential candidate that champions it, that encourages it, that supports it. We cannot have that.”