Robert DeNiro is none too pleased with potential 2012 presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The Huffington Post reported that in an interview with NBC anchor Brian Williams at Saturday’s Tribeca Film Festival, DeNiro challenged Trump’s political statements, alluding especially to The Donald’s suggestion that President Obama may not have been born in America.
“I won’t mention names, but certain people in the news the last couple weeks, just, what are they doing? It’s crazy. They’re making statements about people that they don’t even back up,” DeNiro said. “Go get the facts before you start saying things about people.”
DeNiro went on to confirm that Trump was among the unidentified folks to which he referred.
“It’s like a big hustle. It’s like being a car salesman,” DeNiro said. “Don’t go out there and say things unless you can back them up. How dare you? That’s awful to do. To just go out and speak and say these terrible things? Unless you just wanna get over and get the job. It’s crazy.”
DeNiro, who campaigned for Obama’s election in 2008, also expressed displeasure at the fact that the government was almost shut down, but added that he believed that Obama’s intentions, unlike other politicians, are essentially good.
“I think of the possibility of the government being shut down, and I say, ‘How did we get to this point?'” DeNiro said. “I know Obama was trying to bridge the gap. His intentions are really good. Maybe some things are not as good as we all would like, but his intentions were right. A lot of these guys, they’re intentions are not even good. They’re just playing the game. And they’re playing with people’s lives.”
DeNiro is just one of a many celebrities to attack The Donald as of late. Gossip Cop reported Sunday that troubled actor Charlie Sheen advised people against voting for Trump because he’d exaggerated the worth of a gift he’d given Sheen.
Last week, Trump sent an angry open letter to comedian Jerry Seinfeld for pulling out of son Eric Trump’s St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital benefit. Seinfeld reportedly canceled his appearance to the charity event because he’d “grown increasingly uncomfortable” with the aggressive manner in which Papa Trump has promoted the birther conspiracy.
“We don’t care that you broke your commitment,” Donald Trump wrote to Seinfeld, “even though the children of St. Jude are very disappointed, and despite the fact that your manager clearly stated you are ‘truly a man of his word.'”