Donald Trump just can’t leave Rosie O’Donnell alone! As the first presidential debate drew to a close on Monday night, the questionable Republican nominee opted to resurrect his nasty, ongoing feud with the comedian and former co-host of The View.
During an exchange over Trump’s history of making sexist remarks about women (“pigs, slobs, and dogs”), Trump reiterated a claim that he had made in a GOP primary debate earlier this year — that his insults towards women were largely directed at O’Donnell.
“Rosie O’Donnell — I said very tough things to her, and I think everybody would agree that she deserves it and nobody feels sorry for her,” Trump said during the debate.
Trump has a track record of making insensitive comments about women’s appearances, but his vitriol for O’Donnell can only be described as next-level. So, what’s the deal?
The seemingly never-ending Trump/O’Donnell feud actually dates back to 2006, when O’Donnell was still serving as one of the hosts on The View. One morning she questioned Trump’s decision not to fire controversial Miss USA Tara Conner over drug abuse (remember that scandal?), calling him “a snake-oil salesman.” Trump was then the pageant’s owner.
“He annoys me on a multitude of levels,” O’Donnell also said at the time. “He’s the moral authority? Left the first wife, had an affair. Left the second wife, had an affair. Had kids both times, but he’s the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America? Donald, sit and spin my friend. I don’t enjoy him.”
Trump wasn’t impressed. After the 5 minute outburst on The View he told People that O’Donnell was “a woman out of control,” and said that “Rosie’s a loser. A real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice, fat little Rosie.”
Since then, Trump has attacked O’Donnell mercilessly with tons of inappropriate sound bites — “I’ve known Rosie for a long time. I’ve always felt to myself like she’s a degenerate,” he once told David Letterman on The Late Show.
And of course there are the Twitter fights.
I feel sorry for Rosie 's new partner in love whose parents are devastated at the thought of their daughter being with @Rosie–a true loser.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2011
Rosie O'Donnell just said she felt "shame" at being fat-not politically correct! She killed Star Jones for weight loss surgery, just had it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2014
Trump vs. O’Donnell entered the political sphere this summer when Fox News Megyn Kelly questioned his attitude toward women during this first GOP debate on August 6, 2015.
“You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘slobs’ and ‘disgusting animals,'” Kelly said.
Much like on Monday, Trump interrupted Kelly by saying, “Only Rosie O’Donnell.”
