Robert Redford: Trump is running ‘dictator-like’ administration

by Judy Kurtz - 11/26/19 12:10 PM ET

Robert Redford on Tuesday accused President Trump of running a “dictator-like administration” and urged Americans to vote the commander in chief and his GOP allies in Congress out of office.

“We’re up against a crisis I never thought I’d see in my lifetime: a dictator-like attack by President Donald Trump on everything this country stands for,” the 83-year-old actor wrote in an opinion piece for NBC News.

The country’s “shared tolerance and respect for the truth,” freedom of the press and freedom of speech, and rule of law have all been “threatened” by Trump, Redford said.

“What is happening, right now, is so deeply disturbing that instead of the United States of America, we are now defined as the Divided States of America,” wrote the Academy Award winner and director of the 1994 film “Quiz Show.”

“Leaders on both sides lack the fundamental courage to cross political aisles on behalf of what is good for the American people,” he added.

Redford said that when Trump was first elected, he found it “only fair” to give him a chance.

“But almost instantly he began to disappoint and then alarm me,” Redford wrote on Tuesday. “I don’t think I’m alone.”

The actor has previously weighed in on both Trump the candidate and Trump the president.

In 2015, Redford walked back initial praise of Trump. “I’m glad [Trump’s] in there because him being the way he is, and saying what he says the way he says it, I think shakes things up and I think that’s very needed,” Redford said in an interview.

Redford later said through a spokesman that he “enjoys [Trump], but not for president.”

Two years later, Redford said Americans have themselves to blame for Trump’s rise.

“He’s our fault — that’s how I see it. We let him come to where he is,” Redford told Esquire.

In Tuesday’s opinion piece, he wrote: “We’re at a point in time where I reluctantly believe that we have much to lose — it is a critical and unforgiving moment. This monarchy in disguise has been so exhausting and chaotic, it’s not in the least bit surprising so many citizens are disillusioned.”

“It’s time for Trump to go — along with those in Congress who have chosen party loyalty over their oath to ‘solemnly affirm’ their support for the Constitution of the United States,” Redford added.

He called for voters to “rededicate” themselves to voting for “truth, character and integrity in our representatives,” no matter which side of the aisle they’re on.

“Let’s go back to being the leader the world so desperately needs,” he said. “Let’s return, quickly, to being simply … Americans.”

Tags Academy Award winner Donald Trump opinion piece