Robert De Niro Warns Trump in Video on Voting Rights
- Voting should be easy, Robert De Niro says in a new campaign video.
- The actor issued a blunt warning directed at Donald Trump and what he termed the thugs who are messing with our votes, according to reporting from thedailybeast.com.
- De Niro outlined the choices facing voters in November while addressing candidates on the ballot.
Voting should be easy,
Robert De Niro says in a new campaign video. That’s your right, that’s your superpower, but there’s a catch. There are some powerful people who want to take away that power. This is Robert De Niro, and I’ve got a message for them: No f—ing way.
The actor issued a blunt warning directed at Donald Trump and what he termed the thugs who are messing with our votes,
according to reporting from thedailybeast.com. The Hollywood icon released the video through Hands Off Our Vote, an organization advocating for voters’ rights ahead of the November midterm elections. De Niro accused the Trump administration of attempting to seize authoritarian power by restricting access to the ballot.
Ballot choices and political critique
De Niro outlined the choices facing voters in November while addressing candidates on the ballot. If you want to elect politicians to prop up a would-be king who gets us into a disastrous war and corruptly profits from it, you can find them,
the actor states in the video, as reported by thedailybeast.com. He offered an alternative option for voters, suggesting they could choose candidates who won’t cut your healthcare and won’t protect pedophiles.
The actor urged anyone angered by voting restrictions to support the Hands Off Our Vote organization. According to thedailybeast.com, the group’s website states that the administration aims to limit participation to control elections and maintain power.
Federal voter roll challenges in California
The release of De Niro’s video coincides with a legal battle between the federal government and state election officials over voter rolls. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in federal court on Oct. 15, asking judges to bar California from tabulating mail-in ballots from likely noncitizens until their citizenship status is verified, thedailybeast.com reported. Two days prior, federal officials provided California with a list of 20,000 alleged noncitizens and demanded state compliance within 48 hours, threatening criminal prosecution for local leaders who refuse.
Election law expert Rick Hansen told NPR in an interview cited by thedailybeast.com that the tactic of intimidating local officials into compliance is unusual in American elections. Hansen noted that the National Voter Registration Act prohibits last-minute voter purges because such actions risk disenfranchising eligible voters, even as the DOJ acknowledges its list might remove valid voters.
Early voting strategies against restrictions
To counter these administration actions, De Niro urged viewers to participate in early voting to secure their ballots ahead of Election Day. Whether by mail or in person—you control when,
he says in the video, according to thedailybeast.com. And then, no matter what they pull on Election Day, your vote will already be banked.