Comedian Rob Schneider is standing up for free speech — and he’s doing it with courage and class. Speaking at a Turning Point USA event at UC Berkeley, Schneider recalled a tense but respectful moment with actor Robert De Niro — one that he says shows the power of love over anger.
Schneider’s call for “loving people who are your enemy” came just after chaos erupted outside the venue, where left-wing agitators clashed with attendees. Police say protesters used tear gas and even tried to simulate gunfire to intimidate students.
“These people, preventing people from talking and preventing people from getting in, these were the ‘anti-fascists,’” Schneider said on “Fox & Friends.” “The Turning Point USA students from Berkeley wanting to have peaceful discourse, peaceful debate, conversations, talking about how much they love God, family and country… these people were called the fascists,” he continued. “Who are the real fascists there?”
The event — part of TPUSA’s “This Is The Turning Point Tour” — comes just two months after the group’s founder, Charlie Kirk, was murdered during a campus event in Utah. Outside the Berkeley event, agitators gathered again, leading to at least two violent brawls. Police confirmed arrests were made.
Inside, Schneider shared a story that caught everyone off guard — a moment between him and one of Hollywood’s loudest Trump critics. “De Niro turns around, and he’s like, ‘Schneider, how could you support that schmuck?’” he recalled. “I looked right at him and said, ‘I love you. I love you.’”
Schneider said De Niro looked surprised before backing off. “‘Okay, okay,’” he replied. Schneider laughed as he told the audience, “That’s the only way to handle this. We’re never going to be able to out-cancel the cancel culture. They’re better at it than us. It’s gotta be through love.”
He ended his remarks with a message that resonated deeply with the conservative crowd. “We have to meet them in some other way than just with the same kind of anger,” Schneider told Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt. “When you come from a place of love and brotherhood… it doesn’t advance to that next ugly place.”