Robert De Niro Warns Democrats Not to Become Complacent Ahead of Election: “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over”
Robert De Niro and Steve Buscemi were among the Hollywood stars who took part in Sunday’s “Paisans for Kamala,” a livestream featuring prominent Italian Americans hoping to drum up support and donations for the Harris-Walz presidential campaign.
De Niro kicked off the event — hosted by comedian Paul Mecurio, former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Joseph Paolino Jr. — by saying he’s hopeful that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will win the 2024 presidential election but warned that their supporters should not get complacent.
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“I’m very optimistic about it all,” he said. “I’m very excited, but to me, it ain’t over till it’s over. So we can’t for one second think that we’re ahead of this thing. We just have to be on it all the time until the very end because they’re going to try everything when the election day comes. When will these things be final? What will they question? What will they play games about? We know it’s coming, we see it coming. We have to just be ever vigilant, and it’s not over till it’s over.”
De Niro also said he hopes that, if the Democratic ticket of Harris and Walz beats the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, that there won’t be a repeat of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Hopefully, if God willing that it’s Kamala and Walz, that the ones who make the big thing and what happened [on] January 6, I think people will think twice about doing something about that no matter what Trump says, because…people pay a price, and is it worth it for them? Especially following someone like him? You know, it’s just insane.”
De Niro added that he hopes some Trump supporters will see something in the Harris-Walz ticket that speaks to them.
“I think people who would normally support Trump…could very well see that that there is a way with them that’s more for them than with Trump because Trump doesn’t offer anything,” he added. “And we’ve seen this before in other countries and other societies and other times in history, they think they can control someone like him. But once he becomes the boss if God forbid, he becomes the boss, all the people who thought they could control him, they’re gonna find out differently.”
Buscemi also spoke during the event, calling Harris “smart, strong, kind, tough, inclusive [and] uniquely qualified.”
“There’s, there’s so many issues and policies at stake: affordable health care education, meaningful green initiatives, enacting sensible gun laws,” he said. “I don’t understand why we are banning books and not automatic weapons. And of course a woman’s right to choose so important and respecting people’s choices to not have kids. Everyone has a stake in our future. Sorry JD.”
Buscemi also shared his concerns about a second Trump presidency.
“We know that there’s no perfect candidates or politicians or presidents and we’re not always going to agree with every policy and decision, foreign or domestic, and that’s OK,” he added. “We still have free speech in this country and the right to peacefully protest, and voting is a right that we should never take for granted. And of course, what worries me about another Trump administration is that…he’s a my-way-or-the-highway type of guy. He says he only hires the best people but he actually fired most of his best people. And he’s just going to surround himself this time, if he’s elected, with people who are just 100 percent loyal to him and his ways. And we know all too well, he’ll do anything to stay in power including inciting violence.”
Other Hollywood stars appearing on the livestream included Mark Ruffalo, Lorraine Bracco, Lisa Ann Walter and Marisa Tomei.
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