Actor and director Robert Redford died Sept. 16, 2025, at age 89. Following his death, some people on social media began sharing quotes they claimed were Redford's, including quotes critical of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Multiple (archived) posts (archived) on Facebook and Threads (archived) claimed Redford once said "President Donald Trump didn't create all our divisions as Americans. But he has found every fault line in America and wrenched them wide open."
Snopes readers searched the site to find out if his quotes about Trump were real.
The quote in the posts was a real quote from a 2020 op-ed written by Redford, so we have rated this claim correctly attributed. Although what he wrote may have been edited, Redford would've signed off on the final version before it was published.
Redford's op-ed was published by CNN on July 8, 2020. The piece, titled "Robert Redford: This is who gets my vote in 2020," explained Redford's decision to endorse Democrat Joe Biden for president in the 2020 U.S. federal election. The full context of the quote was:
America is still a world power. But in the past four years, it has lost its place as a world leader. A second term would embolden enemies and further weaken our standing with our friends.
When and how did the United States of America become the Divided States of America? Polarization, of course, has deep roots and many sources. President Donald Trump didn't create all of our divisions as Americans. But he has found every fault line in America and wrenched them wide open.Without a moral compass in the Oval Office, our country is dangerously adrift.
But this November, we can choose another direction.
"CNN has a robust process to edit and fact check all opinion submissions, and authors sign off final copy prior to publication," a CNN spokesperson told Snopes over email.
Redford was politically active during his life and wrote multiple op-eds both about Trump and endorsing candidates for president. In 2019, NBC published a Redford op-ed criticizing Trump's "dictator-like administration" for "attacking the values America holds dear." In 2012, HuffPost published a piece from Redford endorsing then-President Barack Obama for reelection.
One of Redford's driving issues was environmentalism; his endorsement for Obama was largely based on Obama's support for green energy and other environmental issues. He was a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council (archived), a nonprofit environmental advocacy group focused on fighting climate change, protecting wildlife and ensuring clean air and water for communities.
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