Actor Robert De Niro has appeared in a new video produced for Hands Off Our Vote, an activist group that argues the Trump administration and the Supreme Court are undermining Americans’ constitutional right to vote.
In the video, De Niro says flatly that he will not accept any effort to restrict ballot access. “No fucking way,” he says, repeating the phrase as the video’s closing message.
“Voting is a constitutional right, but you have to see that this administration and the Supreme Court aren’t paying any attention to our constitutional rights,” De Niro says.
He frames the stakes of the midterms in sharply political terms, describing a choice between candidates who, in his words, “prop up a would-be king who gets us into a disastrous war and corruptly profits from it” and those who “won’t cut your healthcare and won’t protect pedophiles.” He does not offer evidence for either characterization.
“You get to decide. That’s your right. That’s your superpower. But there’s a catch. There are some powerful people who want to take away that power.”
De Niro says Hands Off Our Vote is responding through both legal action and demonstrations. “We’re fighting them in the courts and standing up to them in the streets,” he says in the video.
Hands Off Our Vote traces its roots to the “Hands Off” protest movement that began last year. According to funding disclosures, the group draws support from Greenpeace, the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Government Employees, Planned Parenthood, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the 50501 Movement, among other left-leaning organizations.
De Niro closes the video with a call to action: “If you’re as furious as I am at all these thugs who are messing with our votes, find out what more you can do.”
Trump won the 2024 presidential election with 77,303,568 votes.
