You are a lunatic: De Niro reignites feud with Trump

Washington: Actor Robert De Niro has reignited his feud with President Donald Trump, calling him a "lunatic" who "doesn't care how many people die" from covid-19. The Oscar-winning actor appeared on BBC's "Newsnight" Tuesday and spoke about the "surreal" experience of living in New York during the outbreak ("It's kind of like a science-fiction movie, but it's real") and how disgusted he is with the country's leadership.

"It's Shakespearean, the whole thing," De Niro said. "You've got a lunatic saying things that people are trying to dance around. "It's appalling. He wants to be re-elected. He doesn't even care how many people die."

"Newsnight" host Emily Maitlis pushed back, suggesting the president's followers would disagree with De Niro and vote for Trump again anyway. "He doesn't care for those people, and the people who he pretends to care about are the people he has the most disdain for," the actor responded. "They might like to tell themselves or to delude themselves, but he doesn't care about them."

De Niro's most recent comments come as the United States, the country with the deadliest outbreak of the novel coronavirus, grapples with more than 82,000 deaths so far.

Trump has faced recent backlash for saying he wants to reopen states even though it may lead to more deaths, while blaming the Obama administration for passing down a broken system and citing the Russia investigation and the impeachment trial as distractions.