Actor and comedian Rob Schneider told a packed Turning Point USA audience Monday night that a heated exchange with Robert De Niro about President Donald Trump years ago taught him the value of responding to critics with humor and grace — a lesson he said applied to the protesters outside the event.
The former Saturday Night Live cast member recounted how, during the SNL 40th anniversary celebration, he unexpectedly came face-to-face with De Niro.
“De Niro turns around and goes, ‘Schneider! How could you support that schmuck? Trump is a schmuck! He’s turning the whole country into schmucks. Schneider, I thought you were smarter than that!’” Schneider said.
COMEDY CLASH: Rob Schneider tells a packed TPUSA crowd how a tense exchange with Robert De Niro over his support for President Trump at the ‘SNL’ anniversary convinced him to stick to kindness toward critics and protesters — including the ones outside the event he’s speaking at:… pic.twitter.com/Yc7yHpZzAZ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 11, 2025
The Deuce Bigalow star said his only thought in the moment was surprise that the actor even knew his name.
“I looked right at him and said, ‘I love you. I love you. No, I really love you,’” Schneider recounted.
“I swear to God he looked right at me and went… ‘OK, OK.’”
Schneider, a recent Catholic convert and outspoken conservative voice in Hollywood, told the crowd that kindness disarms critics more effectively than anger.
“That’s the only way to handle this. We’re never going to be able to out-cancel the cancel culture,” Schneider said. “They’re better at it than us.”
Outside UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, police arrested several people after fights erupted among demonstrators, event attendees, and officers. Videos captured a bloody scuffle before police intervened.
BREAKING: ANTIFA protesters have rushed the entrance of tonight’s TPUSA event attempting to break down barriers.
Attendees were all rushed behind a police arrest and another anti-TPUSA protester has been arrested @TPUSA | @Savsays pic.twitter.com/xo8Mv0mFHj
— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) November 11, 2025
Federal authorities are opening investigations into the protests that erupted outside the TPUSA event.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon responded to the violent protests, calling the “intimidation” of TPUSA attendees “unacceptable.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi later said the case was under “full investigation.”
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The event — featuring Schneider and author Frank Turek — was a stop on the Turning Point USA Tour, renamed in honor of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed at a campus event in Utah in September.
Despite the unrest, Schneider said, “The people outside — you gotta love them. And I love them. I wish them the best. I hope they come around.”