Robert De Niro stated that loving one's country resembles an abused spouse affirming attachment to an abuser, according to reports from Breitbart and HuffPost. Separate claims that the remarks occurred at a counter-event to a Trump White House UFC gathering, with participation by Bette Midler, Jane Fonda, Julia Roberts, and Patti Smith, remain unverified beyond a single source. Progressive, conservative, and libertarian analyses interpret the statement through differing lenses of accountability, elite contempt, and conflation of nation with state power.