Movie stars Robert De Niro and Mark Ruffalo delivered a damning Hollywood one-two against Donald Trump on Sunday, putting their long-held and well-known contempt for the president on full display at a New York City event for the “Hands Off Our Vote” election-protection campaign ahead of the 2026 midterms.
De Niro went first, telling the crowd:
“The Trump administration knows that their policies are not only crazy and cruel, they’re increasingly unpopular. They can see it. They’re not stupid. Well, okay. They are very fucking stupid. I mean, really stupid. They’re stupider than I ever thought.
“But they recognize what they’re doing is turning away people,” he continued. “They can’t get support from the voters. So, what do they do? They try to take our votes away. Are you kidding me?”
“Let me put it another way,” he said. “Keep your fucking hands off our vote.”
De Niro then turned the phrase into a call-and-response with the crowd:
“When the weak and spineless Republicans in the House and Senate won’t protect our rights, what do we say to them?
Keep your fucking hands off our votes.
When the Supreme Court rubber stamps voter suppression, what do we say to them?
Keep your fucking hands off our vote.
When Trump’s Department of Justice threatens election officials demands voter roles and seizes ballots, what do we say to them?
Keep your fucking hands off our vote.
When masked and armed ICE thugs stalk our polling places, what do we say to them?
Keep your fucking hands off our vote.
And when that coward, that fucking piece of shit Donald Trump tries to take our voice and power away, what do we tell him?
Keep your fucking hands off our vote.”
“I think they got the message,” De Niro then said.
“Now, with your commitment and support, we won’t just send them a message. We’re going to send them away,” he added. “Take back the House. Yes. Take back the Senate. Yes. Take back the power. Yes. Take back our country. Yes.”
Ruffalo followed with his own blistering attack, underscoring the stakes of the midterms by calling them “one of the most consequential elections of our lifetimes.”
“I mean, we always hear that,” he acknowledged. “But this is the one. We got to get this dumbass, fool ass, tired ass, lame ass, duck ass out of office. We got to make him a lame duck. We have to stop his policies now.”
“I know we’re all tired. We are so tired, but we can’t give up now,” Ruffalo continued, later saying he was “going to Hulk out” over attempts at voter suppression by Republicans, a nod to his playing of Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. They want to keep us afraid. Their only weapon is our fear. That’s all they got against us is our fear,” he said.