Comedian and actor Rosie O’Donnell says she has moved to Ireland after Donald Trump’s re-election as US president.
O’Donnell said she and her 12-year-old adopted son Clay now live in Dublin.
In a video posted on Instagram, O’Donnell (62) said it was “heartbreaking to see what’s happening politically and hard for me personally as well”.
“The personal is political, as we all know,” she added.
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O’Donnell has an animus with Mr Trump going back almost 20 years when she described him as like a “snake-oil salesman on Little House on the Prairie”.
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Mr Trump was challenged about his misogynist remarks related to women including calling them “fat pigs, dogs, slobs”.
He replied: “Only Rosie O’Donnell”.
Mr Trump doubled down on the comments saying during a presidential debate with his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton.
“Rosie O’Donnell, I said very tough things to her and I think everyone would agree that she deserves it and nobody feels sorry for her,” he added.
O’Donnell has fought back and has called the president a “madman” and a “fascist”.
O’Donnell did not name Mr Trump in her almost 10 minute long post on her TikTok and Instagram pages, but the inference was clear as she moved to Ireland on January 15th, five days before his inauguration.
She said she made the decision because she and her child “needed to take care of ourselves and make some hard decisions and follow through”.
O’Donnell said US legacy media “has been letting us all down” and “haven’t been doing their job,” which she added was essential “in order to maintain a democracy”. She suggested that platforms such as TikTok were the only ones where resistance to Mr Trump could be found.
“So, here’s hoping that they [media] will get better before it’s too late,” she said. “And here’s hoping that it’s not too late already. Protect your sanity is all I can say. Protect your sanity as much as you can, and try not to swim in the chaos if possible. But I know it’s nearly impossible when you’re there in the middle of it.”
The actor described Ireland as “beautiful, warm” and said her time in the country so far has “been pretty wonderful”.
“The people are so loving, so kind and so welcoming.”
O’Donnell’s father, Edward Joseph O’Donnell, emigrated to the US as a child from Co Donegal. She also has Irish ancestry on her late mother’s side.
O’Donnell says she is now in the process of getting Irish citizenship and never thought she would end up living in a country other than the US. She has four other adopted children.
“I’m happy. Clay is happy,” she said. “I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country and when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back.”
She added: “I think about everyone every day and the United States of America. And I am hoping that we can turn things around, counting on you, all of you, to do what’s right. And I think deep down inside, we all know what that is.”
