De Niro compares Trump to Hitler, Mussolini: Voters not taking the threat 'seriously'
Robert De Niro says he can't comprehend why voters aren't taking Donald Trump "seriously," comparing the former president to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
"I don't understand why people are not taking him seriously," the "Ezra" actor said of Trump during a Tuesday appearance on "The View."
"Because you read about it historically in other countries that they didn't take the people seriously — Hitler and Mussolini, they're fools and clowns," De Niro, one of Hollywood's most vocal Trump critics, said.
"Who does not think that this guy is going to do exactly what he says he's going to do?" he asked of the 45th president.
"He's done it already," the 80-year-old Academy Award winner continued.
"And then what? We're gonna sit around and say, what, 'We told you so?'"
"It's gonna happen. If he gets elected, it's going to change this country for everybody," De Niro said.
"Those people who support him with anger and hate — because that's what he's about — they're going to see," he said.
"If he becomes president again, he is not going to not stop being president," Whoopi Goldberg, one of ABC daytime talk show's co-hosts, added of Trump.
"You understand this? His idea is to stay in until he drops dead," Goldberg said.
"That's it," De Niro agreed.
"He's not conceding it now. So imagine if he actually did win the election — it's over. We're going to have such civil strife," De Niro said.
Trump said last year that if he wins reelection, he would not seek a third term in office, which is barred by the Constitution.
“When somebody says eight years, we need eight years, no. In six months to a year, many of the problems, almost all of the problems that you and I have just spoken about will be solved,” Trump said last September.
De Niro has been a frequent critic of Trump, once famously saying he wanted to "punch" him in the face and describing him as a "flat-out blatant racist." The former commander in chief has fired back at the performer over the years, calling De Niro a "very low IQ individual."