OPINION:
There’s hate — and then there’s Robert De Niro level of hate.
On Sunday morning, on live CNN TV, on an interview with host Brian Stelter on “Reliable Sources,” Hollywood’s De Niro dropped a couple of f-bombs about President Donald Trump and Fox News.
On a channel that even little children could regularly watch.
“There’s no way around it,” De Niro said, in answer to Stelter’s question about possible impeachment. “This guy has done everything possible, much worse than I ever thought, ever. The day after he was elected, I said, ’Well, I’ll give him a chance. You never know.’ He is worse than I ever could have imagined. … This guy should not be president, period.”
De Niro then went on to talk about the “crazy world” in which we all live and that if it weren’t for “CNN, MSNBC and some other outlets, The New York Times, The Washington Post” — America would be in deep trouble on the true news front.
“In some ways, I think [Trump] is [putting on a performance,] as I think some of these other pundits on Fox are, too, because I can’t believe that they would actually buy into this craziness,” De Niro said.
And then Stelter said this: “When you say that, folks on Fox come after you.”
And then De Niro said this: “F— ’em. F— ’em.”
And then Stelter helpfully added this: “This is cable, so it’s not an FCC violation, but it’s still a Sunday morning.”
Right. It’s still live TV. It’s still a supposed television news segment.
De Niro’s been equally vulgar in the past. In 2018, at the Tony Awards, he made national headlines by calling out “F— Trump” while on stage, with the cameras rolling. Censors managed to bleep him then — but CNN viewers on Sunday weren’t so lucky.
“Sorry,” De Niro said. “But let me say something. We are at a moment in our lives in this country. This guy is like a gangster. He’s come along and he’s said things and we’ve said over and over again, ’This is terrible. This is a terrible situation.’ And this guy just keeps going on and on and on without being stopped.”
Well then, there you have it. Leftist logic. Trump is “like a gangster” who can’t be stopped — so dropping f-bombs during live national news broadcasts is justified.
That’s not just poor manners. That’s deranged. That’s a sign of a mental meltdown. Notably: The very same thing of which De Niro is accusing Trump.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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