Rosie O’Donnell has taken back her words following a transgender shooter in Minneapolis claiming, incorrectly, that he supported MAGA during a series of social media outbursts last week.
The former talk show host and outspoken critic of Trump, 63, has been residing in Ireland since leaving the U.S. during Trump’s second term.
After discovering her mistake regarding the shooter’s identity, O’Donnell posted a public apology online. “I know many were upset by what I said before I took a few days off,” she mentioned in a TikTok video shared on Sunday. “You’re right, I didn’t do my homework before making that emotional statement.”
“I stated something about the shooter that turned out to be incorrect,” O’Donnell admitted. “I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that shooters tend to follow similar patterns and share similar feelings.”
In her apology, she added, “Honestly, I’ve been through a lot, and when that happens, you sometimes get in your own way. I hope this apology is enough.”
Her earlier comments were refuted when it came to light that the 23-year-old shooter had written “Killing Donald Trump” on a magazine found at the scene.
Still, this didn’t deter O’Donnell from revisiting her theme. “The Minnesota shooting threw me back to Columbine in 1999, when students struggled to grasp the reality of school shootings,” she said on TikTok. “This incident happened in a Catholic school, and look at who the shooter was—a white guy, a Republican, someone tied to MAGA sentiments. It feels like a white supremacist act.”
She criticized the NRA, calling it a terrorist organization, and expressed frustration with the state of America. “Does anyone think this is enough? Was Trump’s influence enough? What else do you expect?”
Despite her assertions, the shooter identified as a trans woman and expressed a bleak outlook on life, leaving behind a video and a handwritten note proclaiming a “long plot,” and a disturbing statement that included harsh words about children and a troubled view on gender identity.
Law enforcement and fact-checkers have found no links between the shooter and the Republican party, the MAGA movement, or any white supremacist group.
In another part of her rant, O’Donnell speculated about Trump’s health, saying, “He’s not doing well—physically, emotionally, mentally… It seems he just wants to leave all of it behind, which I find somewhat amusing.”
O’Donnell currently resides in a suburb of Dublin, having moved there with her 12-year-old child after Trump’s election against Kamala Harris. In March, she revealed that both she and her child identify as non-binary and are on the autism spectrum.
