ADVERTISEMENT Comedian and TV host Rosie O’Donnell has shared that she did not travel to the US to attend her daughter’s college graduation, saying that her bitter war of words with Donald Trump impacted her decision.
O’Donnell shared the news during a recent appearance on the No Filter podcast, explaining: “My daughter graduated college and I didn’t go back because the security people said to me they didn’t think it was wise.” She added: “I think Trump will use me to rile his base.”
Her ongoing rivalry with Trump has been well documented.
In 2006, O’Donnell criticized Trump for remarks he made about a winner of his Miss USA beauty pageant, saying he had no right to be a “moral compass” for the beauty queen.
That unleashed a series of barbs from Trump, who called O’Donnell a “loser” and “slob,” among other insults. In turn, O’Donnell questioned his business skills and compared him to a “snake oil salesman.”
In 2015, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, O’Donnell said: “It’s a nightmare”, and further took him to task over his crude remarks about women.
Then, in July, we reported that Trump was considering removing O’Donnell’s US citizenship, writing: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
Trump said she was a “threat to humanity” and should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”, after O’Donnell moved there following his re-election.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage, and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
Responding to Trump’s threat, O’Donnell wrote on social media that Trump “has always hated the fact that I see him for who he is – a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself – this is why moved to Ireland – he is a dangerous old soulless man with dementia who lacks empathy compassion and basic humanity.”
She also posted a photograph of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein on Instagram, adding: “You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it.” She added: “I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
The US State Department notes on its website that US citizens by birth or naturalization may relinquish US nationality by taking certain steps – but only if the act is performed voluntary and with the intention of relinquishing US citizenship.
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, noted the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the Fourteen Amendment of the Constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” Frost said. “In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
