On May 28, 2024, actor Robert De Niro appeared outside the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City to support President Joe Biden and address Donald Trump's ongoing criminal trial. De Niro, alongside former Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, spoke during a Biden campaign press conference staged to coincide with the closing arguments in Trump’s trial.
Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The Biden campaign, which had previously avoided commenting directly on the trial, used the event to highlight Trump's alleged threats to democracy.
De Niro criticized Trump as a "coward" and "tyrant," asserting that a second Trump presidency would erode American freedoms. Dunn and Fanone, both assaulted during the January 6 Capitol riots, echoed these sentiments, describing Trump as a threat to democracy.
Trump’s advisers, including Jason Miller and Steven Cheung, dismissed the event and derided De Niro as a "washed-up actor." They argued that Biden's campaign was politicizing the trial, which they deemed as baseless.
The Biden campaign plans to intensify its messaging against Trump post-trial, regardless of the trial outcome, leveraging both the ads and public appearances of influential figures like De Niro.