Robert De Niro rips Republicans who are afraid of Trump's tweets: ‘There are no second chances — this is it’
Lawrence O'Donnell and Robert De Niro (screengrab)

Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Robert De Niro slammed Republicans who are scared of standing up to President Donald Trump during a Thursday evening appearance on MSNBC.


De Niro, who has won Academy Awards for "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actor," was interviewed by Lawrence O'Donnell on "The Last Word."

"That's why I see someone like Trump, and I say, you know, when a bully like that is allowed to make all these Republicans afraid of him, afraid of him because he's going to tweet something silly about them or something, that -- we're talking about the country. The only person who did it was [Mitt] Romney and Justin Amash stood up and one or two others."

"This is awful," he declared.

"You've got to stand up for the country, not for some crazy uncle who you have to tolerate at a dinner party. This guy is the president," he explained. "You have to stand up and you have to be counted. And now is the time to stand up to this."

"There are no second chances, this is it," he said. "And when you get older in life, you say, well, I made a mistake here and there -- especially the more old you get, you say, no, no. I won't make that mistake, I made it when I was younger, I won't let it happen this time."

"That's what people have to realize, especially those guys who are my age, and they ought to know better," De Niro added.

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