Michael Moore, Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin and More Lead Anti-Trump Rally in NYC
Michael Moore, Robert De Niro and Alec Baldwin were among the public figures leading an anti-Trump rally in New York on the eve of Donald Trump‘s inauguration. The event was organized by Greenpeace and the liberal activist organization MoveOn and was held outside the Trump International Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Robert De Niro began his remarks on a lighthearted note, reading out tweets that he said Trump would likely be writing in the middle of the night. “‘De Niro’s career is a disaster. He was passed over for ‘Godfather IV’ and “Magnificent Seven. Pathetic!’ Another tweet: ‘De Niro should give back his Oscars. Voting was rigged!’”
De Niro then changed his tune, however, turning his focus on things that Trump has actually said. “He’s a bad example of this country and this city. The President-elect said our country was a dumping ground for the world. Really? These huddled masses yearning to breathe free built our country and our lifeblood, of our strong diverse and beautiful New York City. They gave us the strength to prosper in the mid-70s when the government sent us the message to drop dead. They gave us the strength to recover after the tragedy of 9/11. Now they’re giving us the strength to persevere in the face of the promises of the incoming government.”
Here’s what some of the other speakers had to say at the rally.
Michael Moore
“The good news is, there are more of us than there are of them. [Hillary Clinton] not only won by three million more votes, there’s another seven million who voted Green or Libertarian. They also didn’t want Donald J. Trump. That’s more than 10 million voters that said no to Donald J. Trump…He does not rule with a mandate. There is no mandate. Keep this in mind in your moments of despair. You are not alone. We are the majority. Don’t give up!”
Sally Field
“Throughout our history the labor movement has played a critical role in advancing the lives of American people and tonight that gives me hope. After all it was everyday people who came together to fight injustices on the job site to win the right to have a union and propel the growth of the middle class and expand prosperity in big cities and small towns across the country…I am a proud union member and have been for 52 years, and today I am proud to see that union members are fighting to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all workers.”
Alec Baldwin
“Donald Trump and Steve Bannon and Mike Pence and all these people that are part of the Trump administration they think that you are going to lay down. Are you going to lay down? The one thing that they don’t realize is that New Yorkers never lay down.”
Rosie Perez
“We gather here outside of Trump International Hotel to send a clear message to our fellow New Yorker, Donald Trump, that we are here united in standing up for each other during his time in office, that we are here united in protecting our family, friends, neighbors and fellow New Yorkers and people across this great nation during his time in office, that we will be united in our deep love for this country and take action and most importantly we will be united in our strength against intimidation and bullying and we will not be silenced…I know a lot of you are moaning and groaning about our President-elect. We need to stop that. We need to move forward with hope, with love and with courage, because despair is not our voice. Hope, action, strength and unity is our voice.”
READ MORE: Robert Redford Downplays Trump: ‘We Don’t Occupy Ourselves With Politics’ — Sundance 2017
Mark Ruffalo
“I needed tonight. Did you need this? Man, I needed to be with my brothers and sisters here to know that there’s hope in the world and that we have one another right now. We have each other…We’re coming here together tonight in this amazing city of New York to protect something precious to us, and that’s each other. We’re not protesters. We’re people protectors.”
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