Rosie O'Donnell's Left-Wing Ravings
As co-host of ABC's The View during the 2006-07 television season, Rosie O'Donnell used her daytime perch to push an array of extreme left-wing and anti-American views. Soon after her debut in September 2006, O'Donnell used the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to insist that "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam." In a similar vein, she advised her audience: "Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers," while suggesting that "the Patriot Act has robbed us of us our civil liberties in this country, that fear has taken over from faith in democracy, in the Constitution" In March, O'Donnell even suggested that the government was hiding the truth of 9/11 attacks, arguing: "Miraculously, for the first time in history, steel was melted by fire. It is physically impossible."
O'Donnell's mean-spirited approach was known before she was hired by ABC. Guest-hosting The View back in 2005, she railed against FNC's Sean Hannity, calling President Bush "a war criminal" and demanding to know "how many American poor children are dead, fighting a war that was never needed?" In an appearance on FNC's At Large with Geraldo Rivera earlier in 2005, O'Donnell similarly foamed: "He is basically a war criminal. Honestly. He should be tried at The Hague."
Here are some of O'Donnell's more noteworthy left-wing outbursts, many accompanied by audio and video clips, and with links to more detailed descriptions from MRC's CyberAlert newsletter or our NewsBusters blog.
"655,000 Iraqi Civilians Dead. Who Are the Terrorists?"
On May 17, 2007, Rosie O'Donnell argued that the United States is the real source of terror. Citing an inflated figure for the number of Iraqis killed in the war (most of whom have been killed in terrorist bombings or sectarian violence), Rosie leveled her anti-American charge: "I just want to say something. 655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?" An appalled co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck demanded: "Wait, who are you calling terrorists now? Americans?" O'Donnell stood her ground: "I'm saying if you were in Iraq, and the other country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?"
(CyberAlert, May 22, 2007)
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Six days later, Rosie's insinuation sparked the widely highlighted confrontation in which co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck stood up to O'Donnell's bullying. In a very personal exchange punctuated with finger-pointing and yelling, O'Donnell condemned Hasselbeck for failing to defend her against reporting by cable channels, whom O'Donnell termed "Republican pundits." O'Donnell repeatedly demanded: "Do you believe I think our troops are terrorists, Elisabeth?...Yes or no?" O'Donnell soon asserted: "You said nothing and that's cowardly." Hasselbeck retorted, "I'll tell you what's cowardly: Asking a rhetorical question that you never answer yourself." The May 23, 2007 contretemps turned out to be Rosie's last day on The View, as she would not return to finish the final three weeks of the season. (CyberAlert, May 24, 2007)
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More 9/11 Blather: Rudy Giuliani Hid WTC Steel in China??
On May 14, 2007, Rosie O'Donnell again suggested al Qaeda had nothing to do with the collapse of World Trade Center Seven: "It was in the building that mysteriously collapsed at 5:30pm." After co-host Joy Behar accused former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of not helping recovery workers, O'Donnell suggested he was the ringleader of a conspiracy to hide "all of the steel" from the massive Twin Towers: "He was, you know, instrumental in making sure that all of the steel was removed and shipped to Canada right away, Giuliani was, shipped to China, sorry, right away." Even Behar was befuddled: "For what purpose?" O'Donnell charged: "Well, to get it out of there and to have, you know, all of the stuff but it was all gone. So there was no like metal to test."
(CyberAlert, May 15, 2007)
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O'Donnell: We've Killed More than the Terrorists
On the fourth anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech, Rosie O'Donnell ranted against the Iraq war and the administration. "How many more years and how many more dead kids?" she asked about President Bush's insistence on continuing to fight in Iraq," charging: "It's just, you know, its way over the amount of people killed on September 11th. We've killed more Americans than any terrorist ever did in this war." Incredibly, O'Donnell criticized the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan as well as Iraq: "We were not attacked by either of the nations we invaded. 19 [sic, really 15] Saudis were on those planes, and we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq." (CyberAlert, May 2, 2007)
Rosie Proud Her 5-Year-Old Realized Bush Cheated in 2000
On ABC's The View on April 23, 2007, co-host Rosie ODonnell proudly recalled how her adopted son Parker, when he was just five years old in 2000, realized "the truth" of how "President Bush was not the real President because he cheated." O'Donnell recounted: "Its funny when because when he was in public school in first grade and Bush won supposedly and he went in to school that day and he gets home. I said, How was school? He goes, Fine. He was like five-years-old. The teacher calls me: Oh, hi, Ms. O'Donnell. I just wanted to let you know that today in class Parker announced that President Bush was not the real President because he cheated. [laughter] And I said, Well that's known as truth in our house." (CyberAlert, April 24, 2007)
'How About Separation of Church and State?'
After the Supreme Court's ruling that the overwhelmingly passed Partial-Birth Abortion Act was indeed constitutional, Rosie O'Donnell declared the ruling "frightening," adding that "it's as if the women's movement never happened." O'Donnell then slimed the five Catholic justices as theocrats: "You know what concerns me? How many Supreme Court judges are Catholics....Five. How about separation of church and state in America?" O'Donnell saw sexism, at one point blurting out: "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." (NewsBusters, April 19, 2007)
O'Donnell on Imus: Thought Police Leads to Guantanamo Bay In a discussion about Don Imus's racist and sexist remark about the Rutgers womens basketball team, Rosie O'Donnell warned that "it's not a freedom if you outlaw certain words or thoughts, because then the thought police come and then before you know it, everyone's in Guantanamo Bay without representation." O'Donnells leap from Imus to Guantanamo prompted co-host Joy Behar to exclaim: "What a jump!"
A bit earlier on the April 11 show, O'Donnell had fretted about how the Imus controversy is distracting the public from all the deaths in Iraq: "He made that comment on April 4th and its been all over the news, its been the top lead story everywhere. Well, since then, 24 American soldiers have died and over 90 have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. My point is, look how we're distracted." (CyberAlert, April 12, 2007)
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Rosie Touts 9/11 Conspiracy Theories
On the March 29, 2007 The View, O'Donnell proposed that the government was hiding the truth of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "I do believe it is the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel. I do believe that it defies physics for the World Trade Center Tower Seven, building seven, which collapsed in on itself, it is impossible for a building to fall the way it fell without explosives being involved, World Trade Center Seven. World Trade Center one and Two got hit by planes. Seven, miraculously, for the first time in history, steel was melted by fire. It is physically impossible." Asked by co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck: "And who do you think is responsible for that?", O'Donnell conceded: "I have no idea." But it apparently wasn't the terrorists. (CyberAlert, April 3, 2007)
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Captured Brits a Contrived Gulf of Tonkin for War w/Iran
After Iran entered Iraqi waters to illegally seize a group of British sailors, O'Donnell put the blame on the British and suggested Iran was the victim of a British-U.S. conspiracy to start a war: "But interesting with the British sailors, there were 15 British sailors and Marines who apparently went into Iranian waters and they were seized by the Iranians. And I have one thing to say: Gulf of Tonkin, Google it. Okay." O'Donnell soon repeated her suggestion: "They went into the water by mistake right at a time when British and American, you know, they're two, they're pretty much our biggest ally and we're considering whether or not we should go into war with Iran." (CyberAlert, March 27, 2007)
KSM Confesses, But Rosie Worries He Was Tortured
After 9/11 terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed confessed to plotting the deaths of thousands of innocent people, O'Donnell aimed her wrath not at the self-declared mass murderer, but at unproven allegations of torture: "I think the man has been in custody of the American government, in secret CIA torture prisons in Guantanamo Bay, where torture is accepted and allowed, and he finally is the guy who admits to doing everything. They finally found the guy. It's not that guy bin Laden. Its this guy they've had since 93 [sic]. And look, this is the picture they released of him. Doesn't, he look healthy?" (CyberAlert, March 16, 2007)
O'Donnell: Bush 'Robbed Us of Our Civil Liberties'
When right-of-center comedian Dennis Miller appeared on The View, Rosie O'Donnell jumped at the chance to debate the supposed evils of the post-9/11 Patriot Act: "Don't you believe democracy demands dissent? Don't you believe that, like, the Patriot Act has robbed us of us our civil liberties in this country, that fear has taken over from faith in democracy, in the Constitution?" Miller retorted, "No, I don't," to which Rosie emphatically exclaimed, "I do!" (CyberAlert, March 2, 2007)
O'Donnell Urges Impeachment of 'Dictator' Bush
Celebrating the image of new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sitting behind President Bush at the State of the Union address, O'Donnell argued that it was time for "someone" to push for Bush's removal from office, saying the President was ruling as if America "were a dictatorship." O'Donnell asserted: "Someone, I believe, should call for the impeachment of George Bush" so "the world knows that the nation is not standing behind this President's choices, that the nation, a democracy, feels differently than the man who is leading as if it were a dictatorship, and that we represent this country, he does not lead as a monarch." Co-host Joy Behar chipped in: "Amen." (CyberAlert, January 25, 2007)
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O'Donnell: Don't Fear Terrorists, They're Mothers and Fathers
On the November 9, 2006 The View, Rosie O'Donnell equated the post-September 11th America to the "McCarthy era" and claimed people were "blacklisted" and labeled "unpatriotic" if they expressed any dissent from the Bush administration. O'Donnell also defended the United Nations as a "world voice" and took a shot at Iraq war ally Britain for being "on our side and in our pocket."
The liberal O'Donnell then went on to tell conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck to not be afraid of terrorists: "Faith or fear, that's your choice. You can walk through life believing in the goodness of the world, or walk through life afraid of anyone who thinks different than you and trying to convert them to your way of thinking. And I think that this country-" Hasselbeck: "Well, I'm a person of faith, so I, but I also believe-" O'Donnell countered: "Well, then, get away from the fear. Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers." (CyberAlert, November 10, 2006)
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U.S. Patriot Act Very Similar to South Africa's Apartheid
Rosie O'Donnell took another vicious swipe at the Bush administration and its efforts to combat terrorism when liberal actor Tim Robbins appeared on The View to promote his latest film, Catch a Fire, set in apartheid-era South Africa. While discussing the film and his character, O'Donnell equated the brutal tactics used against the people of South Africa by its own government with the Patriot Act: "They were seeking out terrorists, which is what they called the people in South Africa who actually lived there, who were the majority. The blacks in South Africa, who were trying to fight for their own civil rights, were called terrorists and the government was allowed to arrest them at will and interrogate them, no matter what they did, just on the suspicion. Very similar today to what we have in the United States, thanks to the Patriot Act." (CyberAlert, October 25, 2006)
Radical Christianity as Threatening as Radical Islam
Just a week into her job as co-host of The View, Rosie O'Donnell chose to attack fellow co-host Elisabeth Hasselbecks comment that militant Islam is a grave threat. O'Donnell countered that "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America," and ridiculed Americas response to 9/11: "We were attacked not by a nation. And as a result of the attack and the killing of nearly 3,000 innocent people we invaded two countries and killed innocent people in their countries." (CyberAlert, September 13, 2006)
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Confronted by Hannity, Rosie Rages Against Bush & Rice
Filling in Tuesday for Star Jones on The View back in 2005, O'Donnell angrily yelled and screamed at guest Sean Hannity. O'Donnell outrageously claimed that "Christopher Reeve died without hope because of the religious separation lack of separation of church and state by this administration. The man died without hope of a cure because of the lack of stem cell research."
O'Donnell also called Hannity "delusional" for denying widespread "torture" by the U.S. of prisoners and re-affirmed her charge that George Bush is "a war criminal." After Hannity pointed out how "50 million people are free because George W. Bush is President today," O'Donnell fired back: "And how many American poor children are dead, fighting a war that was never needed?" And when Hannity suggested Condoleezza Rice as a presidential candidate, O'Donnell clenched her teeth with her eyes bulging as she explained: "That's my head almost exploding. I think she's going to unzip herself and it's going to be Dick Cheneys twin brother." (CyberAlert, June 9, 2005)
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Bush 'a War Criminal...Should Be Tried at The Hague'
In a taped interview with FNCs Geraldo Rivera to promote an upcoming CBS movie, O'Donnell screeched that since Bush "invaded a sovereign nation in defiance of the UN, he is basically a war criminal. Honestly. He should be tried at The Hague." She also argued that CBS's removal of Dan Rather as anchor was "scary" and a signal that the administration was punishing dissent. Rosie railed: "I feel I have a responsibility to speak out, as does every other person who disagrees with this administration. And it's scary in a country that you can say something against the President and then worry about your career. That Dan Rather gets taken off CBS News for writing, for saying a report that essentially was true, that George Bush did not show up....anyway, it infuriates me." (CyberAlert, May 2, 2005)
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ABC Gives O'Donnell Platform to Denounce Bush as 'Vile'
In 2004, Good Morning America, proudly touting its "exclusive" in a constant on-screen graphic, provided Rosie O'Donnell with an unimpeded platform to proclaim her intention to "marry" her partner and denounce George and Laura Bush. Interviewed by Diane Sawyer, O'Donnell charged that President Bush's comments in support of a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, were "the most vile and hateful words ever spoken by a sitting President, in my opinion. I am stunned and I'm horrified." Told by Sawyer that the First Lady noted how "same-sex marriage is a very, very shocking issue for some people," O'Donnell called the amendment "shocking and immoral." (CyberAlert, February 27, 2004)
MSNBC's Donahue Goes Out with Rosie O'Donnells Rantings
Just a few weeks before the start of the Iraq war, on the final original broadcast of MSNBC's left-wing Donahue program, sole guest Rosie O'Donnell railed against Bush's Iraq policies: "We have to stop acting like a bully and change the policy." Proving she lives a life surrounded by liberals, O'Donnell maintained: "Every day when I go to pick up my kids from school, every person Ive spoken to has said they're against this war." O'Donnell chided: "We're the only nation that's ever used nuclear atomic weapons on human beings." (CyberAlert, February 26, 2003)
Rosie's Rosy Embrace of Al Gore
Shortly before the 2000 election, Rosie gave Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore an indulgent softball interview, complimenting his answers and making it clear that she hoped he would win. "A lot has been said about whats been done in the last eight years. A lot of good if you ask me," Rosie touted, later stating how "I definitely think the last eight years the country has been a much better place than it had been in a long time." Every question from O'Donnell matched a Gore agenda point: "There was a question at the debate the other night where someone said they saw an ad that the NRA had claimed that if George Bush is elected they would have an office in the White House. They did in fact make that statement?" Gore replied, "They did." O'Donnell: "Yes. Good to know. Okay." (CyberAlert, October 21, 2000)
Rosie: NRA Only Cares About 'White Republican Life'
In an interview with National Review magazine, Rosie charged that the NRA might care about "their own kids, but not kids in general. The only life that is important to them is white, Republican life." As for suggestions that Rudy Giuliani had made New York City safer, Rosie railed: "That's what a white conservative who's rich would say, but not someone in a poor neighborhood, by any means." Subsequently appearing on NBC's Today, O'Donnell cast her anti-gun advocacy as historic: "Up until now the only people who have been interested in being gun control advocates have been people whose lives have been shattered by a bullet....The NRA and the gun lobby can try as hard as they want to scare me, to threaten me, to make me into a hypocrite. This is what I believe and I will not be quiet about it." (CyberAlert, May 15, 2000)
'The NRA Is Buying Votes With Blood Money!'
In 2000, Rosie O'Donnell emceed the liberal "Million Mom March" against gun rights, earning her a spot on ABC's This Week, where she quickly betrayed the extremely political agenda shielded by the image of stroller-pushing moms: "I personally, Rosie O'Donnell, have always been a Democrat. I will always support the Democrats and I love the Democratic agenda about gun control. This is not about politics." A few hours later while on stage during the rally, O'Donnell shouted: "The NRA is buying votes with blood money!" (CyberAlert, June 2, 2000)
Gun Control Debate: Rosie O'Donnell vs. Tom Selleck
Back on May 19, 1999, daytime TV talk show host Rosie O'Donnell pounced on guest Tom Selleck for his support of the NRA and demanded that he justify the freedom to buy assault weapons. 'I think that the reason that people are so extreme against the NRA is because the NRA has such a militant strength, especially a power in Washington to veto or to stronghold against any sensible gun law,' Rosie lectured Selleck. She also declared the Second Amendment to be an 18th century relic: 'I think the Second Amendment is in the Constitution so that we can have muskets when the British people come over in 1800. I don't think it's in the Constitution so we can have assault weapons in the year 2000!' (CyberAlert, May 21, 1999)
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