Robert De Niro comes out swinging for Kamala Harris

Shortly after Joe Biden announced late Sunday afternoon that he would not be seeking a second term as president, two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro affirmed his support for Vice-President Kamala Harris as the party’s new, younger, candidate.

“In an act of shrewd politics and selfless patriotism, Joe Biden is stepping aside to clear the path for another Democrat to become president… because there is nothing more important for our country than defeating Donald Trump at the ballot box,” De Niro said in a statement issued via spokesman Stan Rosenfeld. “With respect, admiration, and affection, thank you Mr. President!”

Biden’s announcement followed intense fallout from prominent Democrats and big-name donors including Hollywood megastar George Clooney, who took the 81-year-old president’s dismal debate performance last month against Trump as a sign he would not be able to beat the New York City real estate developer and onetime reality show host in November’s general election.

At the same time, Trump—who was injured exactly a week ago in an unsuccessful assassination attempt—shored up his party’s allegiance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he announced memoirist and junior senator JD Vance as his pick for VP.

Biden’s decision to step aside marks the first time in nearly 60 years that a president has cut short a reelection bid. Following the announcement, Trump, who briefly tried out a less bellicose public persona after being shot, called Biden the “worst president by far in the history of our country.”

In late May, De Niro appeared on behalf of the Biden campaign outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, where Trump was on trial for—and ultimately convicted of—34 felony counts of falsifying