Robert De Niro's microphone was shut off several times during a rant about former President Donald Trump on The View.
The actor, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump, joined The View's panel on Tuesday to warn of Trump's potential return to the White House.
“I don’t understand why people are not taking him seriously because you read about it historically in other countries that they didn’t take the people seriously. I think of Hitler and Mussolini,” De Niro said. “Who does not think that this guy is going to do exactly what he says he’s going to do?”
De Niro ominously warned "It's going to happen," adding the country would radically change if Trump wins a second term in office.
"They might think that it’s going to make their life better and they just want to — excuse my French —” De Niro said before his mic was shut off.
The actor continued speaking unmiked as the audience applauded.
"Those people who support him with anger and hate, because that's what he's about, they're gonna see," De Niro said as his mic was turned back on. "I didn't understand how he and Rosie O'Donnell used to get ... I didn't really care. I see what a hateful, mean-spirited awful thing he is."
Co-host Joy Behar chimed in, saying Trump was "vicious" to O'Donnell.
"When I say I wanna punch him in the face, it's because what he's said to a person, a bystander or somebody at one of his rallies," the actor said of his previous remarks about Trump and the then-Republican presidential candidate's remarks about one person at a Las Vegas rally in 2016. "He wants to punch them in the face. You don't talk that way to people. What kind of person does that?"
“He’s done everything. What more do you need?" De Niro continued. "It’s almost as if he wants to do the worst he can possibly do to show this country —” the actor said before his mic was cut off again.
Fellow co-host Whoopi Goldberg then claimed Trump's plan was to be re-elected and remain in office "until he drops dead."
"He's not going to not stop being president, you understand that?" Goldberg said.
The actor noted the former president had not conceded the 2020 presidential election. “It’s over,” De Niro agreed with Goldberg’s claim. “We’re going to have such civil strife.”
