Despite virtuoso performances on film and stage, Robert De Niro is reputed to be practically nonresponsive during interviews. That was the case during an interview with NBC News anchor Brian Matthews at the Tribeca Film Festival Saturday until, that is, the conversation turned from acting to a certain somebody’s recent birther crusade. Then, a man of notoriously few words became downright chatty.

“I won’t mention names, but certain people in the news the last couple weeks, just, what are they doing?" De Niro said. “It’s crazy. They’re making statements about people that they don't even back up. Go get the facts before you start saying things about people.”

He didn’t need to name names, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news, Williams decided to do a little fact check and asked if De Niro was talking about someone who has a show on NBC, which the actor confirmed. He also called Donald Trump’s actions “a big hustle.”

Speaking by phone on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning, Trump shot back.

“I have been watching over the years and I like his acting, but in terms of when I watch him doing interviews and various other things, we are not dealing with Albert Einstein,” he said.

Um, okay. Like it takes a genius to recognize that Trump’s birther theories are, as De Niro said, baseless and crazy?

(Photo: AP Photo/Peter Kramer)