Rosie O’Donnell kicked off her week of guest hosting ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! with, even by her standards, a tremendous amount of self-unawareness. In the lead-up to Monday’s show, O’Donnell was clearly relishing in the opportunity to make fun of President Trump, but in her monologue, she claimed that “Mango Mussolini” forced her to flee to Ireland because Trump “hates” her.
O’Donnell recounted the decision to move to Ireland, “You know, I've been living in Ireland for the past two years because of Mango Mussolini. I read that Project 2025 and said, ‘Got to get myself out of here,’ you know? And I decided to go to Ireland, a place where people are driven to drink regardless of who's running their country.”
Not appreciating the irony of hosting a show in the United States, Rosie O'Donnell kicks off her week of guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live by saying, "You know, I've been living in Ireland for the past two years because of Mango Mussolini. I read that Project 2025 and said, 'Got to… pic.twitter.com/PORReREYeH
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) August 18, 2026
The part of Project 2025 that really freaked O’Donnell out appears to have been the part related to transgender ideology. Using all the non-binary pronouns, O’Donnell continued, “I decided to move, and I took my little then 11-year-old kid with me, and I just said, ‘Whatever you do, don't tell anyone because we don't want a lot of press and a lot of paparazzi. So, please don't tell anyone.’ And they’re a pretty smart kid. You know, they got it. They said, ‘Don't worry, I won't,’ and then went to school and proceeded to tell their entire class.”
O’Donnell then impersonated the child, ‘“I'm very sorry I won't be able to graduate sixth grade with you. I'm 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.’”
The irony in all of this was that O’Donnell was hosting a show in the United States. Apparently she thought Trump’s America was not fascist enough to pose a threat to her safety as a self-appointed political dissident.
Here is a transcript for the August 17 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel!
8/17/2026
11:38 PM ET
ROSIE O’DONNELL: You know, I've been living in Ireland for the past two years because of Mango Mussolini. I read that Project 2025 and said, “Got to get myself out of here," you know? And I decided to go to Ireland, a place where people are driven to drink regardless of who's running their country.
I decided to move, and I took my little then 11-year-old kid with me, and I just said, “Whatever you do, don't tell anyone because we don't want a lot of press and a lot of paparazzi. So, please don't tell anyone." And they’re a pretty smart kid. You know, they got it. They said, ‘Don't worry, I won't,’ and then went to school and proceeded to tell their entire class.
“I'm very sorry I won't be able to graduate sixth grade with you. I'm 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.”
