Yes, Robert De Niro is Talking to You
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Everybody has to get out there every way possible. They have to get out there. This is it. This is our country. You know, I want my country back. I don't want everybody going around with their American, the MAGA with the American flags like they're the only ones. We are the Americans too. And I think there are more of us. No, I don't think, I know there are more of us because we believe in what's right and wrong. Empathy, kindness, bringing country together, not dispersing it.
I shouldn't be here. This shouldn't be happening. I shouldn't even get to meet Robert De Niro. But in this moment for our country, in this moment in our politics, we get to row in the same direction, towards something better, towards something brighter, toward a healthier state for our democracy. Without any further ado, this is the best people, and this is the iconic, the legendary, the incredibly kind and generous Robert De Niro. Thank you. Thanks for doing this.
Happy to.
I've been a fan forever, and I really mean that. I shouldn't get to meet you or know you, but because we find ourselves aligned in this existential struggle for the future of our country, we get to talk about that.
Yeah.
And I wonder if you've seen things realign in your own life because of this moment in our politics.
Yeah, you run into people like you, I mean, that we normally would not. And you do find yourself aligned with people because there's a common... interest, a common goal, a common need to defeat what's happening in this country. It's so blatant and scary. And this is not what I want to be doing at my age, but I don't see how I can't do or say something about this and be part of the opposition because it's just, it's insane.
You've seen the Trump story so clearly from the very beginning.
What motivates Robert De Niro to speak out against Trump?
Is that from knowing him as a New Yorker?
No, I don't know, but you never took him seriously as a New Yorker. He was a guy, you know, real estate, young man, kid, on the make. But it was all, I mean, people I knew who, from different walks of life in New York, never took him seriously. Listen... There's a word that I read in a column in the paper, kakistocracy. And it's like, I said, this must be some made up name or something, but it's derived from the Greek, meaning a crazyocracy, but of a regime or a person who's running the regime. It's totally crazy. People who should not be there. And that's, so it's a kakistocracy, if you will.
I like that. I think people were late to call it what it was, right? Like they wanted to make it normal because the brain can't process whatever this is. And I feel like you never did that, right? You always sort of called it the way you saw it. Do you wonder, right? Like, I feel like we wouldn't be here if the Republicans at the beginning had said like, get out of here. This guy's nuts.
They had the opportunity. They had it when he did the first impeachment. The second one. I mean, I understand tribalism. You stick with your own and all that. You don't want to. But this is way, way, way more serious. McConnell had the chance. He blew it.
How does De Niro view the role of kindness in today's society?
It's I don't understand. I don't understand people like J.D. Vance, who he made a complete about face. How do you reconcile that? I don't understand it.
Yeah, J.D. Vance, who once called Trump America's Hitler. Yeah. You're a student of the human condition. What do you think explains that conversion?
I don't know there are historical parallels, of course. I became more aware of quotes of Plato, Socrates, this and that, of things that these things... This is not all new to us. And with Trump, he's cruel, he's mean, he's sadistic.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:34
2
What motivates Robert De Niro to speak out against Trump?
2:34–4:02
3
How does De Niro view the role of kindness in today's society?
4:02–7:52
4
What insights does De Niro share about empathy and unity?
7:52–8:58
5
How does De Niro perceive the political landscape in America?
8:58–16:01
6
What does De Niro think about the importance of midterm elections?
16:01–18:51
7
How does De Niro describe the impact of fear in politics?
18:51–23:56
8
What are De Niro’s thoughts on the responsibility of business leaders?
23:56–41:48
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Best People with Nicolle Wallace
Julia Curlee: “This is my Country, Too.”
Best of The Best: Chris Hayes Makes His Curiosity the Antidote to Anxiety
Tim Miller Thinks Trump is Losing His Grip
Tim Snyder on the “Tiny Infinitesimal Amount of Courage” We Need
Marc Elias: We’re Not Heading Towards the Precipice — “We’re There”
Brian Driscoll on the Hollowing Out of the FBI: "It's Devastating”