Actor Mark Ruffalo decries 'extreme wealth' controlling country, says billionaires causing nation's problems
While attending a "No Kings" rally against President Donald Trump in New York City on Saturday, the actor spoke out against Trump's immigration policies, saying that the immigrants the administration is allegedly targeting are good people, while wealthy Americans and "White people" are the ones committing the crimes.
"We get to see who is really making our lives unbearable and making us so desperate. It's not the immigrants, it's the billionaires," he said in an interview with activist group New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC).
According to several sources, Ruffalo's net worth is in the tens of millions of dollars, with one site reporting he is worth $90 million.
Ruffalo attended one of hundreds of "No Kings" protests held on Saturday that were organized the same day as Trump's military parade in Washington, D.C.
One of the key issues for "No Kings" protestors was Trump's mass deportation programs. Protests against Trump's immigration crackdown turned violent in Los Angeles last week, with Trump calling in the National Guard and several hundred U.S. Marines to quell the chaos.
While at the NYC rally, Ruffalo wore a hat with the word "immigrant" emblazoned on it, and made various statements about the value of immigrants to America and how the Trump administration is targeting the wrong group of people.
During his interview with NYIC, the actor claimed that Trump and conservatives are scapegoating migrants for the problems created by America's majority population and billionaires.
He said, "Well, we're seeing what's happening. First of all, we're understanding that the immigrants aren't the criminals. If you look at the statistics, most of the crimes committed in this country are by White people — non-immigrants."
He added that immigrants "add to our economy by the billions."
Elsewhere in the interview, Ruffalo declared, "It's time to take our country back" from the billionaires — which he described as the "extreme wealth that has its hands all over the power of the nation." He added that all people should come together to make the country "a beautiful, burgeoning democracy that works for the people, not just the very wealthy."
Separate footage from the rally showed the actor reading some prepared remarks to the crowd. He stated, "Sadly, today Donald Trump and the administration of billionaires, crackpots and ICE brigades have taken over. We have a king, and his court, and his beige henchmen, and they're trampling on our rights and our laws and our freedoms, making themselves richer with taxpayer dollars and making us less safe with their love of other kings and dictators, and the likes of Putin, and Netanyahu and Kim Jong Un of the world."
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