The “Goodfellas” star has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump.

Amy Poehler makes Robert De Niro cry while thanking him for his activism as a ‘white man of his status’

The “Goodfellas” star has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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September 15, 2026 8:24 p.m. ET

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Amy Poehler and Robert De Niro. Credit:

Randy Shropshire/NBC via Getty; Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

- Robert De Niro cried during his appearance on Amy Poehler’s *Good Hang* podcast.

- The *Saturday Night Live* alum thanked De Niro for speaking out the way he does as a white man.

- De Niro has been vocal about his opposition to President Donald Trump.

Amy Poehler managed to make tough guy Robert De Niro —yes, that De Niro — cry when she thanked him for his activism.

On Monday’s episode of her *Good Hang* podcast, the *Saturday Night Live* alum went all Leslie Knope on him. It was sweet.

“I just personally want to thank you for doing what you do and speaking out in the way that you do about where we are in the world,” Poehler told her guest. “There’s a lot of people that are asked to speak truth to power, and they’re usually members of the margins. There are people that are young, don’t really have as much currency or footing as other people. It’s often people of color. It’s often women.”

She had an interesting comparison: “And to see a person like yourself, the age that you are and the status that you are, it reminds me of … the best way I can describe it is when it’s like if someone’s giving a terrible speech at a wedding and they’re ruining the wedding. And the wedding is America, and there’s another adult who says like, ‘We don’t talk like that. That’s not how you’re supposed to treat people. This is insane.’ It makes everybody feel very safe, and so I’ve seen you do it over and over again, and I really appreciate it.”

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De Niro, 83, is a longtime Democrat who’s publicly clashed with President Donald Trump. For instance, the *Goodfellas* star’s birthday message to him was to comment on the president saying that he doesn’t think about Americans’ financial situation.

“Shut the f--- up,” said De Niro, who also noted that he wants to love his country again.

Poehler, 54, told De Niro his advocacy “means a lot to a lot of people ‘cause you’re standing up for a lot of people who don’t have the power to do that. So, thank you, Bob. And thanks for doing it over and over again.”

She then said, “I can’t believe I just made you cry. I feel incredible right now. Hold on. We got to get you your tissues. We’ve got *Good Hang* tissues for you, Bob.”

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Robert De Niro's message for Donald Trump on his 80th birthday: 'Shut the f--- up'

Then the *Mean Girls *star continued her praise. “There’s not a lot of men in your position who do that and white men of a certain age, like who, frankly, have a ton of power and don’t use that responsibility in a way that they could,” she said. “So, thank you.”

De Niro reiterated what he’s said previously, which is that it’s upsetting to see what’s happening in the country. He urged people to be on guard to what’s happening.

Trump has accused De Niro of being “another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ, who has absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying—some of which is seriously CRIMINAL!”

A No Kings march in March 2026 in New York City.

Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Images

During De Niro’s exchange with Poehler, she asked, “What do you say to people who feel very hopeless ‘cause that hopelessness sometimes paralyzes people?”

De Niro said that, while he understood that point of view, people have to join others in fighting for the United States they want. He quoted U.S. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) in saying that “courage is contagious.”

“The negative feelings can be contagious too, but why not have courage and be contagious and stand up and you might find out it’s not so difficult, and people will stop the nonsense that they’re doing,” De Niro said. “It’s just out of control.”

Poehler replied that, “When people like you do that, it makes it easier for other people to do it. So, thank you.”

Watch their full conversation above.

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