Richard Gere Calls Immigration Hardliners Around Trump “Rabid Idiots” in Blistering Political Attack
Richard Gere has never been shy about mixing Hollywood fame with political activism. During a recent appearance in Berlin, however, the veteran actor turned up the heat considerably.
Speaking to The Associated Press ahead of a migration event, Gere criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, intelligence, and inner circle. His sharpest line described some of the people influencing Trump on immigration as “complete idiots” and “rabid idiots.”
One important detail has been lost as the quote spread online: Gere did not clearly call all Trump supporters “rabid idiots.” His comment appeared to target immigration hardliners advising or influencing the president.
That distinction may not make his criticism any gentler, but it does make the story more accurate.
Gere Unloads on Trump and His Immigration Circle
Gere made the remarks on June 4 in Berlin, where the Hertie School and the Gere Foundation were launching a long-term initiative examining the underlying causes of migration between Africa and Europe.
“I don’t think he’s so supported today,” Gere said of Trump. “You know, he’s got some complete idiots, rabid idiots about immigration, and they feed him.”
The actor then made his criticism more personal.
“This is not an intelligent guy, Trump,” Gere said, arguing that the president listens to people around him and allows them to shape major decisions. His assessment was political opinion, not a factual finding, but there was little ambiguity about whom he blamed.
Gere also accused Trump of using dehumanizing language about migrants. He told the AP that refugees and migrants should not be reduced to labels or treated as threats simply because they were fleeing desperate circumstances.
“These are human beings like us who are usually running from a fire of one kind or another,” Gere said. “We’re all in the human family.”
That message fit the purpose of the Berlin event. The Joint Initiative on Migration plans to study why people leave their homes, develop evidence-based policy proposals and promote approaches centered on cooperation and human dignity.
“Everyone is an immigrant,” Gere told the audience while recalling his encounters with people rescued in the Mediterranean by the Spanish humanitarian organization Open Arms.
His Criticism Stretched From USAID to Gaza
Immigration was only one part of Gere’s broadside.
The actor also condemned the Trump administration’s restructuring of the U.S. Agency for International Development, commonly known as USAID. Gere described the agency as one of America’s clearest expressions of humanitarian responsibility.
“USAID was probably the most pure thing America did up to that moment,” he said, pointing to its work in health, education, women’s programs and the international fight against HIV and AIDS.
Gere claimed Trump stopped that work immediately and accused the president and people around him of failing to understand the agency’s mission.
“What do you do if you’re the wealthiest, most powerful?” Gere asked. “You help people who don’t have healthcare.”
The administration disputes that characterization. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said American foreign assistance was not being eliminated but reorganized so that spending would align more closely with U.S. national interests.
“We are not ending foreign aid,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a July 2025 briefing. “We are making it more nimble.” Management of several programs previously overseen by USAID was transferred to the State Department beginning in July 2025.
Rubio has argued that USAID sometimes operated separately from broader American foreign-policy goals. He said every taxpayer-funded program should make the country safer, stronger or more prosperous.
Gere also criticized Trump’s approach to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war involving Israel and the Palestinians. He accused the president of giving Netanyahu excessive freedom to act without the boundaries previous American administrations had attempted to impose. Those remarks represented Gere’s interpretation of U.S. policy rather than an independent fact.
The White House Response Took a Personal Turn
Trump does not appear to have directly answered Gere’s “rabid idiots” comment. However, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung later responded when a clip of Gere’s USAID criticism circulated online in July.
Cheung began his post by writing, “Sorry, not going to listen,” before invoking a crude, widely debunked urban legend about the actor. He did not address Gere’s arguments concerning humanitarian assistance.
The administration’s substantive response has instead come through Rubio and other officials, who maintain that USAID required stronger oversight and that foreign aid should directly advance American policy objectives.
That leaves two very different versions of the same story.
Gere sees the changes as a retreat from compassion and international responsibility. Trump officials describe them as an overdue effort to eliminate waste, increase accountability and put American taxpayers first.
What cannot be disputed is that Gere’s attack was real, blunt and deeply personal. He questioned Trump’s judgment, criticized the people advising him and challenged several of the administration’s most consequential policies.
But the viral version needs one correction. Gere did not plainly condemn every person who voted for Trump as a “rabid idiot.” He aimed that insult at immigration hardliners he believes are whispering in the president’s ear, a narrower target, though hardly a softer one.
