Rob Reiner, a director and longtime advocate for liberal Democratic causes in Hollywood, ripped into Robert De Niro for his “F— Trump” outburst at last Sunday’s Tony Awards, calling the foul-mouthed speech counterproductive.
“If you have any interest in trying to preserve the democracy, and put it in the hands of somebody who understands government, who isn’t self-dealing, who cares about this country and the people in this country, then you’re helping Trump,” Reiner said in an interview earlier this week on The Hill’s “Rising” TV show with co-hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton.
“You’re helping Trump by saying ‘F— Trump’ because he can say, ‘Look at these people, these elitists,’” added Reiner, who defended De Niro’s right to share his opinion even as he found it tactically a mistake.
“There’s a very fine line between energizing the base and energizing the other side,” added the director of classics like “The Princess Bride” and “When Harry Met Sally…”
“Right now, if you’re a Democrat and you want to hold this president accountable you have to have some ability, some subpoena power to have hearings and to actually expose certain things, right now you have an enthusiasm gap,” he said.
“If you do things like that, that enthusiasm gap narrows because you make the other side more enthusiastic and so it’s not good,” Reiner said. “Plus, that’s not a smart way to talk about anybody.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Wrap