Robert De Niro took aim at Elon Musk during a New York City screening of a documentary that paints the billionaire in a hostile light, mocking Musk’s political spending after Republicans lost ground in last week’s midterms.
De Niro joined fellow Tribeca Festival founder Jane Rosenthal Sunday at the Crosby Hotel in Manhattan for a showing of “Musk,” directed by Alex Gibney, according to Deadline. A room of Academy members attended.
“Elon Musk spent about 300 million dollars getting Trump elected in 2024,” De Niro said while introducing the film. “And he just spent close to half a billion on Republicans in this past week’s election. How did that turn out for you?”
Deadline reported the line drew cheers, jeers and laughter from the crowd.
De Niro also referenced Musk’s recent announcement on X that Tesla will end production of the Cybertruck next summer, tying it to the midterm results.
In the fight between Musk’s money and democracy, democracy won. This time. But just like his grotesque Cybertruck, Musk isn’t going anywhere.
He continued: “It’s a reminder that while we are celebrating the massive electoral repudiation of Trump and Trumpism, we have to be vigilant — and not just vigilant, we have to be ready to take action. This is an important film, I hope you will be as moved as I was by it and spread the word.”
Gibney thanked De Niro at the event, telling him, “Thank you, Bob, for all you have done for all of the resistance.”
What neither man mentioned that night: the documentary has struggled commercially. Breitbart News’ John Nolte reported that “Musk” earned just $307,000 after expanding to 468 screens from an initial four, averaging $649 per screen. By contrast, a documentary on Melania Trump opened on 1,778 screens and still pulled in $4,027 per screen.
