The Biden campaign on Tuesday dispatched actor Robert De Niro and two former police officers who defended the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 – Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone – to express the threat they claim former President Donald Trump poses to the country.
Speaking to reporters near the Manhattan courthouse where Trump’s criminal trial is taking place, De Niro said Trump “wants to cause total chaos.”
De Niro, a New Yorker, called Trump a “clown” whose presidency could be dangerous for Americans. He said New Yorkers once tolerated Trump but now recognize him as a threat.
Actor Robert De Niro speaks in support of President Joe Biden in Manhattan Criminal Court as the former president and Donald Trump attend his criminal trial in New York, May 28, 2024.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
“I love this city. I don’t want to destroy it. Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city, but the country, and eventually he can destroy the world,” De Niro said.
At a press conference following Biden’s campaign, Trump adviser Jason Miller fired back, saying the best the Biden campaign could do to attack Trump was to “deploy a failed actor.”
De Niro said that if “Trump comes back to the White House, you can say goodbye to those freedoms that we all take for granted.”
De Niro recently aired an anti-Trump ad for the Biden campaign. He said he agreed to participate in the ad “because it shows Trump’s violence and reminds us that he will use violence against anyone who stands in the way of his megalomania and greed.”
Robert De Niro speaks to reporters in support of President Joe Biden, outside the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump in New York, May 28, 2024.
Seth Wenig/AP
Robert De Niro argues with a Donald Trump supporter after speaking to reporters in support of President Joe Biden, outside Trump’s criminal trial in New York, May 28, 2024.
Seth Wenig/AP
Both Dunn and Fanone defended the Capitol on January 6 and were among the most vocal members of law enforcement to condemn the attacks. They were both witnesses during the Congressional investigation into the January 6 attacks.
Dunn — who failed in his bid for Congress earlier this month, losing the Democratic primary to represent Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District — called Trump “the greatest threat to our democracy.”
“Donald Trump poses the greatest threat to our democracy and the safety of communities across the country today,” Dunn said. “We were called traitors again today. We were all called traitors on January 6 for doing our jobs,” Dunn said.
Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn speaks to the press outside Manhattan Criminal Court as former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends his criminal trial in New York, May 28, 2024.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
Fanone, who was a DC police officer, was attacked by rioters on January 6 and suffered a heart attack as a result.
“I came here today to remind Americans what Donald Trump is capable of and the violence he unleashed against all Americans on January 6, 2021,” Fanone said.
ABC News
