{"id":24072,"date":"2026-08-18T18:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=24072"},"modified":"2026-08-18T18:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:19:20","slug":"rosie-odonnell-mocks-trump-in-jimmy-kimmel-live-debut-monologue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=24072","title":{"rendered":"Rosie O’Donnell mocks Trump in ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ debut monologue"},"content":{"rendered":"


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NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The two-decade grudge between President Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell was back in the spotlight Monday night, as the comedian lobbed several insults at the White House \u2014 including speaking directly to Trump \u2014 during her debut “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” opening monologue.<\/p>\n

The former host of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” is set to serve as the show\u2019s guest host this week while Kimmel is on summer vacation.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell began her monologue by poking fun at Trump\u2019s longtime distaste for the show, telling the audience, “The president hated \u2018Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u2019 when it was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Buckle up, people.”<\/p>\n

JIMMY KIMMEL REVEALS HE ASKED MAJOR TRUMP CRITIC TO GUEST HOST WHILE HE’S ON VACATION AS A ‘SPECIAL TREAT’<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Rosie O’Donnell attends the 79th annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 7, 2026.<\/span> (TheStewartofNY\/FilmMagic)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The 64-year-old comic then turned her attention to her newfound residency in Ireland, a move she made in January 2025 due to Trump\u2019s 2024 election victory. On Monday night, O’Donnell referred to Trump as “Mango Mussolini.”<\/p>\n

“I read that Project 2025 and said, \u2018Got to get myself out of here, you know,\u2019 and I decided to go to Ireland, a place where people are driven to drink regardless of who’s running their country,” O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell then recalled how her teenage child delivered the news that they would be moving abroad to their classmates, telling the audience her child said, “\u2018I\u2019m very sorry. I won\u2019t be able to graduate sixth grade with you. I\u2019m being forced to move to another country because the president of the United States hates my mother. But in all fairness, I believe my mother hates him more.\u2019”<\/p>\n

Without mentioning Trump by name, O\u2019Donnell then smiled directly into the camera and addressed the president, telling him, “Hi, I know you\u2019re watching.”<\/p>\n

ROSIE O’DONNELL CREDITS TRUMP FOR MAKING HER ‘RE-FAMOUS’ AS WHITE HOUSE CALLS HER ‘OBSESSED’<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jimmy Kimmel hosts “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on April 23, featuring guests Ray Romano and Tracy Morgan.<\/span> (Randy Holmes\/Disney)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

O’Donnell’s monologue drew ire from Curtis Houck, managing editor of NewsBusters for the Media Research Center.<\/p>\n

“Rosie O’Donnell is painfully unfunny and the personification of letting politics run your life, with whoever is in power determining your happiness,” Houck told Fox News Digital. “Rosie has been on a lengthy U.S. media blitz ahead of this week’s guest-hosting, and she was able to do so freely. She hasn’t been arrested and hauled off to some Trump-branded gulag.”<\/p>\n

“She’s still gainfully employed doing whatever it is she does to make money,” he added. “It’s as if her shtick about Trump being an incapacitated-yet-menacing authoritarian is all an act to secure the eyeballs of the deranged left.”<\/p>\n

The comedian spent much of the show telling stories of her new life in Ireland, praising the country\u2019s kindhearted attitude and comparing it to her previous home of New York City.<\/p>\n

“[The people in Ireland] would stop me in the street. They would say to me, ‘Welcome, Rosie. You’re home. We love having you here,\u2019” O\u2019Donnell said. “I was like, \u2018It’s been my refuge and my salvation.\u2019”<\/p>\n

Between introducing guests, O\u2019Donnell also appeared to get choked up while paying tribute to 36-year-old Hayden Panettiere, a former guest on “The Rosie O\u2019Donnell Show” who passed away on Sunday.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m just heartbroken over the passing of Hayden Panettiere last night,” O\u2019Donnell tearfully said.<\/p>\n

WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO MOURNS FORMER FIANC\u00c9E HAYDEN PANETTIERE, VOWS TO KEEP HER MEMORY ALIVE FOR DAUGHTER KAYA<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Rosie O’Donnell has been one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent critics in the entertainment industry.<\/span> (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Toward the end of her monologue, O\u2019Donnell looked to deal one final jab at the president after not mentioning him by name throughout the show, cheekily adding, “You know, right now he\u2019s in the White House crying because I haven\u2019t mentioned him.”<\/p>\n

Trump hit back against O’Donnell’s teasing with a post to Truth Social showing a cartoon image of O’Donnell in various situations thinking about Trump, with the caption, “She (?) is obsessed!”<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell previously told Variety that she was “surprised” to receive the hosting offer from Kimmel, noting the pair\u2019s previous “adversarial” relationship, but was “thankful” to the late-night host for the opportunity.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I support [Kimmel] in what he\u2019s doing with the First Amendment, and our ability as entertainers and citizens to speak out against our government that\u2019s enshrined in the Founding Fathers\u2019 writings about our government, so I think he\u2019s fantastic,” O\u2019Donnell told the outlet. “And I wish that Stephen Colbert had the same kind of support when it happened to him, because he shouldn\u2019t be gone either.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to O\u2019Donnell for comment.<\/p>\n

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Julia Bonavita is a media and culture writer for Fox News Digital, and a Fox Flight Team drone pilot. You can follow her at @juliabonavita13 on all platforms and send story tips to julia.bonavita@fox.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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