Robert De Niro Tells College Grads They're 'Graduating Into a Tragic, Dumb*ss Comedy'

Robert De Niro told graduating students at Brown that they're about to enter the "tragic, dumbass comedy that is now America."

Robert Deniro at the lecturn for a commencement speech at Brown University.
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Robert Deniro at the lecturn for a commencement speech at Brown University.

It's the time of year where more people are being shoveled from college to the workforce. And because of that, it's also the time of year to hear what celebrities said in commencement speeches without having to sit through a boring graduation in the hot sun with bugs flying around your face and air horns going off every 20 seconds.

This year, Robert De Niro gave the commencement speech at Brown University, where he also happened to be receiving an honorary doctorate of fine arts. And it was there that he told graduates that they were about to leave the relative safety of academia before entering the "tragic, dumbass comedy" that he says is now America:

Safe to say it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of the Trump administration or the current state of world affairs.

Now, despite the description of the U.S. that got you to read this, the full context of De Niro's quote is a little more upbeat. "When you started school, the country was an inspiring, uplifting drama," he said. "You are graduating into a tragic, dumbass comedy. My advice is to lock the [university’s] Van Wickle Gates and stay here. But if you do leave, work for the change. Work to stop the insanity. Start now so the class of 2018 will graduate into a better world."

The critique isn't nearly the 73-year-old actor's first public condemnation of Trump, as he previously said he wanted to punch the president in the face, and also that the election results made him feel the way he did after 9/11.

Check out the excerpt below:

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