Robert De Niro labels Trump a ‘philistine president’ at Cannes for targeting the arts

Harsh Donald Trump critic Robert De Niro attacked the president in an award speech at the Cannes Film Festival Tuesday night, calling on “everyone who cares about liberty to organize, to protest ... to vote.”

The actor warned the crowd as he accepted a Palme d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival that Trump is out to get art.

“We are fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted, and that affects all of us – that affects all of us here because the arts are democratic. Art is inclusive. It brings people together, like tonight. Art looks for truth. Art embraces diversity,” he said.

“That’s why art is a threat ... that’s why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists,” De Niro noted to applause.

De Niro particularly attacked “America’s philistine president” for taking control of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and for threatening a 100 percent tariff on foreign films.

“America’s philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of our premier cultural institutions,” said De Niro. “He has cut funding and support forThe the arts, humanities and education. And now he has announced a 100 percent tariff on films produced outside the U.S. Let that sink in for a minute.”

These “attacks are unacceptable,” said De Niro. “And this isn’t just an American problem. It’s global, and like [at] a film we can’t just all sit back and watch. We have to act, and we have to act now – not with violence, but with great passion and determination.”

He ended with the national motto of France: “Liberté, egalité, fraternité.”

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.