Robert De Niro has urged Americans to keep protesting against US president Donald Trump.
After the weekend’s No Kings protests across the US, De Niro has urged his fellow Americans to keep up the pressure on the 47th president.
Organisers, who oppose Trump’s immigration, education and security policies, hosted some 2,700 events across all 50 states.
‘We can’t let up,’ De Niro told MSNBC. ‘Cannot let up on him because he is not going to leave the White House. He does not want to leave the White House. Anybody thinks he, oh, he’ll do this, he’ll do that, it’s just deluding themselves.’
He added, ‘It’s a classic bully situation. We see it, and there’s no other way to face a bully. You have to face him and fight it out and back them off and back him down. That’s the only way this is going to work.’
The No Kings protests were joined by nearly seven million people, according to MSNBC. ICE’s immigration crackdown – branded by some as ‘ruthless and inhumane’ – was a key issue in the nationwide demonstrations, which even saw Trump deploy the National Guard, a move later declared illegal by an LA judge.
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What are the No Kings protests?
Since coming into power, Donald Trump has pushed the boundaries his presidential power by implementing executive orders, such as deploying the National Guard troops to US cities, despite one local judge ruling the move ‘illegal’.
While Trump says his actions are done to rebuild a country in crisis, his critics say his government are unconstitutional and a threat to democracy.
Signs have included slogans like, ‘Democracy not Monarchy’ and ‘The Constitution is not optional’.
The President’s Republican Party largely shrugged off the protests, calling them ‘Hate America’ rallies.
Trump also posted an AI-generated video of himself bombing protestors with brown sludge from a plane while wearing a crown.
Cuts to federal programmes were also major motivators for protestors, with millions taking to the streets in major US cities including New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles. Organisers said it was the largest single-day demonstration against a sitting president in modern history.
De Niro is one of the many Hollywood stars to speak out in support of the No Kings rally, which came one day after Trump had declared he is ‘not a king’ in an interview with Fox News.
He also warned, ‘Don’t forget I can use the Insurrection Act… And that’s unquestioned power,’ referring to the centuries-old law that authorises a president to send the military into US areas to stop a rebellion.
‘The original No Kings protest was 250 years ago,’ De Niro said. ‘Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III.
‘Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away: King Donald the First. F**k that.’
Elsewhere, Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal also turned up to demonstrate in LA, writing on his Instagram, ‘PROTECT #Democracy,’ while Kerry Washington posted videos and photos from the protest, saying she was ‘sending so much love and gratitude to everyone’.
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The White Lotus star Murray Bartlett posted a selfie from the demonstration, for which he wore a custom No Kings hat, and said: ‘Wonderful to peacefully gather with community and stand up for the rights of all.’
Say Anything star John Cusack told CNN at the protest that if Trump ‘thinks this place is going to be a fascist hub – no chance!’
Talking from Chicago, he said the city’s message was: ‘Go to hell!’
‘No, you can’t put troops on our streets. You can’t create enough chaos to invoke the Insurrection Act so you can stay in power. We all know what your plan is,’ the actor said, addressing the president.
Jamie Lee Curtis shared photos from a protest and wrote, “Democracy in ACTION!’ while Spike Lee encouraged his followers to ‘GET UP STAND UP’.
Glenn Close posted an image of herself holding up a sign that read: “No oligarchs. No dictators. No despots. No autocrats. No kings!!”
Before the rally, actor Mark Ruffalo shared a message to followers on Instagram imploring them to join the protests.
‘WE the People – WE have the power and together WE will win! Check out this inspiring video and share it with your family, friends and neighbors to join one of the over 2,500 No Kings protests across our country this Saturday, October 18th,’ he wrote.
‘Courage is contagious! Each of us have an important role to play in this historic moment by exercising our First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and peaceful protest. Go to nokings.org to find a protest near you. See you in the streets!’
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