Robert De Niro became visibly emotional on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast when she thanked him for his activism, particularly his vocal criticism of Donald Trump and his administration.
Poehler concluded her interview by expressing her appreciation for De Niro “speaking out in the way that you do about where we are in the world.” She noted that while many people are called to speak truth to power, they are often from marginalized groups, such as people of color or women, who may lack the same platform.
"There’s a lot of people that are asked to speak truth to power, and they’re usually members of the margins,” Poehler stated. “There are people that are young and don’t really have as much currency or footing as other people. It’s often people of color. It’s often women.”
She likened De Niro’s role to an adult intervening when someone is ruining an important event. “The best way I can describe it is, it’s like if someone’s giving a terrible speech at a wedding and they’re ruining the wedding, and the wedding is America, and there’s another adult who says, like, ‘We don’t talk like that. That’s not how you’re supposed to treat people. This is insane,’” Poehler explained.
“It makes everybody feel very safe, and so, I’ve seen you do it over and over again, and I really appreciate it,” she added. “Thanks for doing it over and over again.”
Visibly moved, De Niro’s voice shook as he thanked Poehler for her words. Poehler lightened the moment with a joke about making him cry before returning to her point. “But it is true, there’s not a lot of men in your position who do that, white men of a certain age who frankly have a ton of power and don’t use that responsibility in a way that they could, so thank you.”
After regaining his composure, De Niro shared his motivation for speaking out. “It’s so upsetting to see what’s happening in this country, and it’s so crazy,” he said. He also expressed concern about the lasting influence of Trump’s actions, stating, “In a way, that’s better that it’s so blatant because this will happen again. This guy [Donald Trump] will influence people, and they’ll come up, and they’ll say, ‘Well, I can do it this way or that way.’ And we have to always be on guard with what’s happening now.”
The full interview is available on YouTube.