Special to WorldTribune.com

By Bill Juneau, June 9, 2024

I am lacking for any real credentials which would allow me to assess the character of actor, Robert De Niro. He is 80- years-old and has been around Hollywood for many years and has starred and appeared in many award winning flicks. He is the winner of two Oscars and a number of Golden globe awards. He is said to be worth $500 million.

No mention that I can find of any military service by him, and his formal education consisted of two years in high school. As a boy in school, De Niro had become known to his young friends as “Bobby Milk” because of his pale complexion. He has been married twice and has seven children. His 7th child was born last year with a young girl friend; And he was 79.

Sad to say, but De Niro is proving to be as much of a “whacko” as is his hero, Biden, said Trump. / Video Image

Checking available records, there are a heavy number of negative comments about his on-the-set movie making demeanor with opinions that he possesses a crude, vulgar and annoying persona. Some years ago, a doctor friend of mine told me that De Niro was a dumbo who could barely communicate without a script. I do not know how my physician friend had gained that information, but he apparently trusted his sources.

Lately, there have been stories on Facebook that actors Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone, James Caviezel, Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves have declined to appear in movies with De Niro, and have scored him with denigrating comments. Reportedly, some actors have turned away from million dollar movie contracts rather than appear on screen with the unlikable De Niro.

Caviezel, well known for his appearance in the movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” allegedly has referred to De Niro as an “awful, ungodly man;” and Sly Stallone has objected to the mouthy De Niro as “too woke.” Kevin Costner reportedly has said that De Niro is “disrespectful and doesn't know when to shut up.”

Also, it is alleged that Keanu Reeves described De Niro as a “Grade A” Jackass; and that Denzel Washington referred to De Niro as a “creepy old man.” I read the newspapers and various magazines and listen to the “all-knowing” talking heads of television fame, and I am amused at the reported conduct of the wealthy De Niro who loudly proclaims himself to be a “Trump-Hater;” and is a long time member of the Democratic Party which also is known as the “Party of the Jackass.”

The Democratic party was originally named the Party of the Jackass when it was formed in the 1800s in the days of President Andrew Jackson. In those times, calling an associate a “jackass” was said to be a compliment and a term of affection. Through the years it became the party of the mule and then the Democratic Party. Nowadays, comparisons of an individual to a Jackass is no longer regarded as a warm handshake.

With the backing of the Democratic party, and introducing himself as a proud supporter of the Biden-Harris ticket seeking reelection in next November's election, Hollywood's De Niro was called upon to host a news conference outside the Manhattan courthouse where the jury trial of former President Trump was in its final days. Very likely, friends in the Department of Justice told the veteran actor to “take him down.”

De Niro wore dark glasses similar to those often worn by President Biden. Many will recall seeing Biden with his aviator glasses on as he watched and applauded bare-chested, transgender women dancing on the White House lawn, during a salute last year to the “Courageous Pride” community.

With Biden's encouragement, De Niro had a PR job to do and he stood with his mike in the center of a small group on the pavement outside the New York courtroom where a jury was listening to the case against ex-President Trump. He called the former President by a variety of names and said that he did not belong in “my city.”

In early June, jurors returned a guilty verdict in the peculiar case against Trump. I am guessing that almost no one, and that would most certainly include the slow thinking and uneducated De Niro, really understood what the charges were against Trump. They dealt with “hush money” paid to a woman to keep quiet about a tryst she had with the ex President some 18 years ago. The payment somehow qualified as the falsification of business records.

Fudging on records is generally considered a misdemeanor, but in Trump's case, the allegations mysteriously got upgraded to a felony. Trump will be sentenced in July by Judge Juan Merchan, a handpicked democratic judge whose conflict of interests, and his daughter's allegiance to the democratic party, should have proscribed his sitting as the trial judge.

Di Niro's ranting outside the courthouse in Manhattan did not last long as Trump backers began screaming at the Biden activist from Hollywood. Actually, I think that the tough-acting De Niro was scared off when Trump supporters challenged him about his name calling and were angered over garbage about Trump that he was spewing.

De Niro called the former President a “clown” and said he doesn't belong in “my” city. This “grubby real estate hustler is masquerading as a big shot.” said De Niro as he looked over the crowd of citizens for and against President Trump. His rhetoric made little sense and was more about the actor himself and how he grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Manhattan. His comments also were highlighted by his apparent inability to speak without a script in his hands.

Said De Niro: “Trump wants “to destroy not only the city, but the country …. and eventually, he could destroy the world.” De Niro was the buffoonish center of attention near the courthouse for only a short while. Some analysts believe that his presence and conduct may motivate TV watchers to vote for President Trump rather than for Biden. The basis for that judgment is that anyone endorsed by De Niro should never be President.

In 2016, when Donald Trump was a candidate for President against Hillary Clinton, De Niro, who apparently was still caught up in his roll as boxer Jake LaMotta, in the movie, “Raging Bull,” was asked for his opinion of Donald Trump the candidate.

De Niro replied that he would like to “punch him in the face.”……”Trump is a punk… He's a dog… He's a pig. He's a con, and a bull s— artist.”

Former President Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee in the Nov. 5 Presidential election, and will face Joe Biden who is seeking a second term as the nation's President. Biden and Trump are scheduled to debate on June 27 and on Sept. 10. Current polls place the ex-President with a commanding lead over Biden.

When the former President was asked recently for his reaction to De Niro's tirades against him, he said that “I never knew that Mr. De Niro was so small — physically and mentally.” Sad to say, but De Niro is proving to be as much of a “whacko” as is his hero, Biden, said Trump.

Bill Juneau worked for 25 years as a reporter and night city editor at the Chicago Tribune. Subsequently he became a partner in a law firm and also served as a village prosecutor and as a consultant to the Cook County Circuit Court and to the Cook County Medical Examiner. He is currently writing columns and the ‘Florida Bill‘ blog.

  De Niro: Unflattering character references for a diminished actor, WorldTribune.com

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