I don't know why anyone is surprised at this. Howard has spent his entire life being noncontroversial and milquetoast. The man has never rocked a single boat or ever been edgy (at least not in his films.)

There are certain things I don't expect of some men. I definitely don't expect anything deep or especially poignant from Ron Howard, a man who has played it artistically safe his entire career. I'm not saying his films are no good, just that his films (and even his roles when he was younger) were never especially controversial.

Now contrast that with the behavior of Robert DeNiro, a man who has mostly kept to himself on a personal level, but has spent his entire career playing some very controversial roles, and a history of dating and marrying Black women!

DeNiro came out hard against trump, and has not backed down. Clearly DeNiro feels he has nothing to lose by speaking out, and I'm not surprised at his behavior.