Actor Robert de Niro in his latest rant against President Donald Trump threw his support behind 2020 Democratic hopeful and South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg.
De Niro in an interview with the Daily Beast over the weekend said that Buttigieg was “the best” shot Democrats had to beat “piece of sh**” President Trump come 2020 because he’s “got all the credentials”—and he’s gay.
“Buttigieg I like a lot,” said de Niro. “He’s got all the credentials—Rhodes Scholar, Afghanistan veteran—even though he’s young, and if he could get a chance it could be something special, I think.”
“As a gay person, he’s someone who comes from a marginalized community, so people from other ethnic groups can identify with him, even if they’re not gay, because they know what it’s like,” he continued. “I think he’s the best for what we need now. I have friends who really like him a lot, as I do. With Obama, he had the middle name ‘Hussein’ and a lot of things that people tried to use against him—including Trump with the whole stupid ‘birther’ thing—and he went right through it. It could happen with Buttigieg.”
As for former vice president Joe Biden’s chances to beat Trump, de Niro said that “he means well” and “could get us into calmer waters, that would be a good thing.”
He said that he likes contenders Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) but he’s not sure how “realistic” their candidacies would be.
“I don’t know if people are ready for that. It’s too extreme,” de Niro said.
De Niro has made abundantly clear his loathing for President Trump, from the stage of the 2018 Tony Awards to interviews where he couldn't help but drop F-bombs on live television.