Robert De Niro goes off on Trump during The View: 'He did something wrong -- he has to pay for it'

Actor Robert De Niro made a simple case for President Donald Trump's impeachment.

The 76-year-old actor, a frequent and outspoke critic of the president, told "The View" in plain terms why Trump should be impeached for pressuring Ukraine into announcing the investigation of a political rival.

"I think no matter what happens, which we know probably in the Senate he won't get convicted or whatever, but we have to do this," De Niro said. "We have to go through the motions. Symbolically it means something. It's a taint on his presidency, more than a taint. It's a stain, one that he deeply deserves, so, yes, we will go through it and take our chances."

"We have to take our chances no matter what," he added. "He's going to try and use it that he got ahead of it and say (he) beat it like a gangster, (he) beat the rap like the 'Teflon Don,' but he has to take that punishment. He has to pay the consequences."

De Niro said Democrats must risk losing Republican-leaning voters to impeach Trump.

"We don't have time for that," De Niro said. "He did something wrong, he has to pay for it -- period."