Robert De Niro used a Thursday awards ceremony honoring high-school writers to accuse President Trump of spreading “bulls–t.”
The “Raging Bull” actor bashed the president while praising the winners of the first Jimmy and Rosemary Breslin “American Writer Award” at the Tweed Courthouse in Lower Manhattan.
“The one characteristic that comes through all of your work that I read, and that is the same quality of everything that Jimmy Breslin wrote, is the truth,” De Niro said.
“Our country is led by a president who believes he can make up his own truth. And we have a word for that — bulls–t.”
“So what about the truth? What does the truth even mean today? I mean, if you’re Donald Trump it doesn’t mean anything,” added De Niro, who got loud applause for the attacks.
Hundreds of high-school seniors submitted non-fiction, “New York-centered” stories employing the short sentences and original angles favored by the late newspaper columnist, whose family established the contest.
First place — and a $2,500 prize — went to Bronx High School of Science student Nuha Dolby, who wrote about giving money to a homeless man on the subway.
Breslin’s son, Kevin, said his dad befriended De Niro when the up-and-coming actor visited their family home in Forest Hills to discuss his role in the 1971 movie based on Breslin’s book, “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”
“He represents the greatest of the great in this city, and my father loved him, my mother loved him,” Kevin Breslin said of the two-time Oscar winner.
“He’s been sticking up for journalists. He’s a champion of journalists. He doesn’t have to, but he does.”