Rosie O’Donnell Questions If Trump Won Election Legitimately in First Irish TV Appearance Since Moving

The actress and former talk show host made her first appearance on Irish TV as a guest on that country’s Late Late Show with host Patrick Kielty on Friday, where she suggested that Elon Musk might have had something to do with his boss’ big win.

Musk, of course, has been elevated to the head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, though there’s some uncertainty about what exactly his title is, what authority he has, and who he reports to officially.

Nevertheless, the world’s richest man definitely has the president’s support and ear, with O’Donnell alluding to her belief he may have paid for it — if not in cash, then with his power and influence in the tech sphere.

“I question why for the first time in America history a president has won every swing state and is also best friends and his largest donor was a man who owns and runs the internet,” O’Donnell said.

According to The Washington Post, Musk donated a total of $288 million to Trump’s election victory, with The New York Times reporting earlier this month that he’s looking to invest $100 million more into the presidency.

He also owns X (formerly Twitter), which is among the top social media platforms in the world. Musk was among many tech leaders in attendance at Trump’s indoor inauguration, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

“So, I hope that would be investigated,” O’Donnell added of Trump’s victory, “and that we would see whether it was an anomaly or it was something else that happened on election night in America when Kamala Harris was filling up stadiums with people who supported her and Donald Trump was not able to do that.”

O’Donnell, who has long been critical of Trump, laid into the president on several fronts during her appearance, including the fact he invited Conor McGregor to the White House, after the fighter’s civil suit loss over sexual assault allegations last last year, as covered by The AP, with Nikita Hand being awarded €250,000 in damages. McGregor denied the claims.

“It’s strange to me that the President of the United States has so many friends who are sexual abusers,” O’Donnell said, after describing McGregor’s White House visit as “very depressing.” She added, “I think it says that we’re in trouble.”

“The foundation of our country is a melting pot of people all created equal and that they are to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” she argued. “That is what we were promised as Americans, and to think that cruelty and lack of empathy is a value sprouted from the highest office in our country is overwhelmingly sad to me personally.”

O’Donnell shared that she was surprised to hear her name come up during a recent meeting between Trump and Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Micheál Martin, when a Brian Glenn for conservative outlet Real America’s Voice asked him, “Why in the world would you let Rosie O’Donnell move to Ireland? I think she’s going to lower your happiness levels.”

While Martin seemed to suggest he didn’t know anything about it — and may not even know who O’Donnell is — Trump quipped, “Thank you, I like that question.”

He then asked Martin, “Do you know who she is?” before adding, “You’re better off not knowing.”

On The Late Late Show, O’Donnell said that the president “uses me as a punchline whenever he feels the need. He’s been doing it for two decades and I’m still not used to it every time he does.”

Adding some context and backstory to that, O’Donnell told The Late Late Show that it started “when I told the truth about him on a program called The View — where it was my job to talk about pop culture and politics. I mentioned his bankruptcies, and I mentioned all of the sexual assault charges, and I mentioned that he was not, in fact, the businessman everyone thinks he is … He was very angry, to say the least, and he hasn’t let it go.”

Speaking about the most recent call-out, O’Donnell said, “I felt very troubled that they put the Taoiseach in that position and didn’t treat him with the respect that a leader of that kind deserves when they’re visiting the White House,” she told Kielty.

She shared that she sent a note as apology to the Irish leader after the incident, explaining some of the backstory between her and Trump, saying she “got a note back that they had received it and thanked me.”

O’Donnell shared that she moved to Ireland in mid-January, right around the time Trump was taking office in January 20th as the 47th president of the United States. The comedian has Irish grandparents, so has roots in the country. Through this connection, she is in the process of getting Irish citizenship, per TMZ.

“It’s really felt like home since I’ve been here,” she said. O’Donnell has said that for the time being, she has no intentions to return to the United States … but the door isn’t closed entirely.

“When it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back,” she said in a TikTok video earlier this month announcing that she had moved.

TMZ reported that they reached out to the White House about her announced exit from the U.S. and got a response from spokesperson Taylor Rogers, who told the outlet, “Promises made, promises kept. Good riddance!”

O’Donnell joins a list of other Americans who have ditched the U.S. since Trump took office, including Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi.