Mark Ruffalo made a passionate speech at a Hands Off Our Vote event in New York City on Sunday night, slamming U.S. President Donald Trump and saying he’s going to “Hulk out” if he attempts to restrict voting in the upcoming midterm elections.
The midterms are set to take place on Nov. 3 and could have a large impact on U.S. politics, giving Democrats the chance to take back control of Congress and curb Trump’s agenda. The Hands Off Our Vote rally on Sunday was meant to mobilize voters and also featured speeches from Robert De Niro and Mo Amer.
Taking the podium at the event, Ruffalo began: “This is a big, big deal, this election. There’s a lot hanging in the balance. And we all know that we’re going to kick their asses — but we all know that they’re going to steal it. They’re going to do everything in their power, and it isn’t going to be over the night we all win.”
The “Avengers” and “Spotlight” actor then pointed out the issue of cybersecurity in voting, calling out Elon Musk in the process. “We need to be on guard for what we may not see coming: Elon,” he said. “That’s the cybersecurity of these elections. And while I’m not an expert, I’ve been talking to experts. And the one thing I’ve heard repeatedly is that there is a vulnerability of the votes when they’re transferred from the polling places to the county headquarters and then to the states.”
In order to counter this, Ruffalo encouraged voters to join the organization Free Speech for People in challenging insecure voting systems to make sure election results are as accurate as possible and “safe from any domestic or foreign interference,” as he put it.
Ruffalo then turned his attention to Trump, saying: “We gotta get this dumbass, fool ass, tired ass, lame ass, duck ass out of office. We got to make him a lame duck! We have to stop his policies now. Another two years of this, and who knows what he’ll be doing? He’s calling to throw Democrats out of the country. And he means it! The guy means everything he says. I know we’re all tired, we are so tired, but we can’t give up now … They’re going to try and stop us from taking our country back, and we’re not going to let ’em. Trump, we’re not letting you! Hands off our fucking vote!”
At that moment, a person in the crowd yelled out, “You tell ’em, Hulk!” — referring to Ruffalo’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the giant green superhero.
Ruffalo laughed and responded, “I’m gonna Hulk out. You won’t like me when I’m angry.” He paused and added: “Hey, I’m still here! They thought I was out for the count — I’m still here, I’m still playing the Hulk.”
He concluded his speech by telling the crowd not to be afraid or intimidated — and to, of course, get out and vote.
“We can’t hide. We have to be together and we have to fight for each other and we have to be brave. Our time to be brave is coming, I’m telling you brothers and sisters,” he said. “They’re going to do everything they can to keep us in our homes. They’re going to do everything they can to make us feel small. They’re going to do everything they can to make us feel lost, to make it feel inevitable. It’s not inevitable! We’re inevitable — the truth is inevitable.”
Ruffalo is no stranger to speaking out for what he believes in. His appearance at the Hands Off Our Vote event comes just over a month after he caused controversy with his criticism of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, which has now been approved and is expected to close this week.
In late August, he shared a clip on Instagram of Paramount board member Safra Catz outlining “really profoundly scary technologies” that Oracle — the tech giant co-founded by Larry Ellison, father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who is involved in the merger’s financing — used to help the Israeli military after the Oct. 7 terror attack. He also likened Larry Ellison to a “classic oligarch” and warned of the consequences if Paramount and Warner Bros. are allowed to merge, alleging that the Ellisons “are crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance.”
In response, Paramount accused Ruffalo of invoking “antisemitic tropes,” and he was also called out by Jewish advocacy groups. Ruffalo denied the accusation, saying in a statement that it was “appalling and fundamentally dishonest.”
After the news that the merger had closed last week, Ruffalo once again spoke out against it. “This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs — it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved,” he wrote. “This is an incredibly disappointing outcome for the hundreds of thousands of us who stood up to block it, but it’s also not the end. This grassroots movement isn’t going to fade away and neither is our resolve.”
