Comedian and social commentator Rosie O’Donnell and former President Donald Trump have been enemies for a long time — and as both are exceedingly adept at the insult game, it’s a feud that people have seemed to enjoy watching.
O’Donnell has let loose on Trump — both before, during, and after his presidency. She has called him “mentally unstable” and said last spring that she hoped he would be indicted (a wish granted four times over) and that, given the chance, she would never have Trump as a guest on her show. (Not that Trump has been asking.)
“Imagine the ratings though,” says one commenter on YouTube.
Trump gives it back to O’Donnell in kind — “Rosie is crude, rude, obnoxious and dumb – other than that I like her very much!” he once tweeted — and the cycle continues.
When Trump transitioned from fellow celebrity to powerful politician, the tenor of the Trump-O’Donnell feud changed, as more was at stake with the enormous expansion of Trump’s power and influence.
“He’s doing dog whistles every day,” O’Donnell said in 2018, during the Trump presidency, “and he’s shouting out to people who try to fight off their own internal racism. He’s encouraging them.”
Now O’Donnell has reshared a post about Trump — originating with Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko — that blatantly accuses the former President of being a racist. O’Donnell shared the post without adding any text to it, letting it speak on its own.
Parkhomenko’s words offer a provocative exercise that asks followers of Trump, who some believe are tolerant of racism even while they aren’t over racists themselves, to examine whether they are enabling something they truly don’t believe in — or failing to acknowledge a latent racism they do harbor.
— Annie (@AnnieForTruth) September 11, 2023
Parkhomenko writes:
When they were white and carrying machine guns, Trump cheered them on. When they were black and demanding justice, he threatened them with dogs and violence. If you’re still wondering whether he’s a racist, you should start wondering if you are too.
Parkhomenko has touched on the race issue before with another thought experiment, tweeting last year:
Next time someone tells you that America isn’t a racist country, just remind them that this nation is willing to accept treason from a white president but not healthcare from a Black one.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) September 27, 2022
“Next time someone tells you that America isn’t a racist country,” he writes, “just remind them that this nation is willing to accept treason from a white president but not healthcare from a Black one.”
