In an 11.23 conversation with The Daily Beast‘s Marlow Stern, Irishman star (and Joker costar) Robert De Niro allies himself with Pete Buttigieg.

Stern: So who do you think beats Trump in 2020?

De Niro: “I don’t know [but] I like Buttigieg. Biden could get us into calmer waters, that would be a good thing. He means well, and to me, he’s a guy who would do the right thing, make the right decision. But Buttigieg I like a lot. He’s got all the credentials — Rhodes Scholar, Afghanistan veteran — even though he’s young, and if he could get a chance it could be something special, I think.

“As a gay person, he’s someone who comes from a marginalized community, so people from other ethnic groups can identify with him, even if they’re not gay, because they know what it’s like. I think he’s the best for what we need now. I have friends who really like him a lot, as I do.

“With Obama, he had the middle name ‘Hussein’ and a lot of things that people tried to use against him — including Trump with the whole stupid ‘birther’ thing — and he went right through it. It could happen with Buttigieg.”