Rob Schneider is used to taking jabs from his Hollywood peers for being a staunch MAGA Republican, but few things could prepare him for Robert De Niro.
The comic actor on Thursday recounted an unlikely altercation he had with Trump’s Oscar-winning foe at “Fox & Friends” on Thursday at the “SNL50” celebration in February — and why he decided to lead the confrontation with love.
“It has to come through love, that’s true,” Schneider said of the scene’s de-escalation. “The Bible says you don’t get a reward for loving your brother, you get a reward for loving people who are your enemy – and he’s not my enemy. I love him and he’s angry. And the way to really do that and deal with it is through love. You have to understand that.”
Schneider’s comments came after “Fox & Friends” aired a clip of his appearance at the much-discussed Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley on Monday. While speaking at the event, Schneider recounted how De Niro approached him on the “SNL50” stage after all the show’s alumni were called to participate and stick together.
“How could you put up with that asshole?” » De Niro asked at the time. “Trump was an asshole!” »
“I looked at him and said, ‘I love you! I love you!’ Swear to God,” Schneider said of the encounter. “He looked me straight in the eye: ‘OK… OK.’ That’s the only way to handle this. We will never be able to surpass cancel culture. They are better than us at this.
Watch Schneider on “Fox & Friends” below:
Monday night’s event at UC Berkeley was the center of a media storm this week after anti-Turning Point protesters demonstrated outside the sold-out event and dissident tensions boiled over into violence.
Several arrests were made by city and university officers, and Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the Justice Department and the FBI-led task force were investigating the protests.
“We were there discussing things with kids, and we said what Charlie Kirk said — the only reason I was there in Berkeley was because I told him, ‘Let’s go to the hardest place,’ and he said, ‘Well, we’re going to Berkeley then.’ And that was a challenge,” Schneider said of his appearance at Turning Point USA and his relationship with the conservative youth organization’s late founder, Charlie Kirk. “But I wish it was a challenge that really fit what this country is supposed to do, which is freedom of speech.”
Watch Schneider’s full appearance on “Fox & Friends” in the video above.
