Robert De Niro has said he would never play former US president Donald Trump as he “cannot see any good” in him.
The 80-year-old Hollywood actor spoke about the upcoming US presidential election and why he would not want Mr Trump to become president again.
The Apprentice star and businessman is the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination after former UN ambassador Nikki Haley pulled out of the race.
Speaking on Real Time With Bill Maher, De Niro said: “The bottom line is, it’s Biden versus Trump. We want to live in a world that we want to live in and enjoy living in, or live in a nightmare.
“Vote for Trump and you’ll get the nightmare, vote for Biden and we’ll be back to normalcy.”
He added: “I just don’t want to feel the way I did, and many of us don’t, after the election in 2016 where we couldn’t believe that it happened. The guy is a total monster.”
He added: “I’d never play him as an actor because I can’t see any good in him. Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing redeemable in him.”
Ms Haley, a former South Carolina governor, was Mr Trump’s first significant rival when she jumped into the race in February 2023.
Meanwhile, the only elected Democrat to challenge Joe Biden for the presidency, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, ended his long-shot Democratic presidential bid on Wednesday after failing to win a primary contest against him.
On Thursday, Mr Biden turned his State of the Union speech into an animated argument for a second term as he laced into Mr Trump for espousing “resentment, revenge and retribution” and jeopardising freedom at home and abroad.
De Niro has frequently criticised Mr Trump and they often sparred during the former president’s time in office.
In 2020, the two-time Oscar-winner said Mr Trump “doesn’t care” how many people die from coronavirus.
Mr Trump has previously called De Niro “a very Low IQ individual” on X.
Trump’s representatives have been approached for comment.
