The Chris Cuomo Project - Rosie O'Donnell on ESCAPING Trump's America

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

Rosie O'Donnell (actor & comedian) joins Chris Cuomo from her new home in Ireland to explain why she left America after Trump's second election victory. O'Donnell shares how Trump's first presidency led her into depression and unhealthy habits, prompting her move abroad for "self-preservation" and to create a better environment for herself and her autistic child. She discusses the cultural differences between Ireland and America, including how the Irish reject celebrity worship and embrace their history of fighting oppression. O'Donnell reveals she can finally be "a normal person" for the first time since becoming famous, with older Irish men buying her Guinness instead of cursing at her in CVS. The conversation touches on the No Kings Day protests on June 14th that gave her hope, her concerns about American extremism, and why she believes billionaires and "patriarchal fascist" leaders are destroying the country she still loves despite choosing to leave it. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Join Chris Ad-Free On Substack: http://thechriscuomoproject.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you know where Rosie O'Donnell is and what her plan is for why? I do. Chris Cuomo here. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo Project. I learned something about Rosie O'Donnell's plan that I did not think I was going to hear. I knew that Rosie moved to Ireland. I hadn't heard her talk about what it's like there and why she went and if she's still paying attention here and what she thinks about what's going on. I mean, she has such a huge following. So I called her up and she said, sure, I'll tell you. So Rosie O'Donnell wanted to talk to me about the difference between Ireland and America,

what she thinks is happening here, what she thinks is happening there, but more importantly, what her plans are for the future. Rosie O'Donnell with a shocker. Rosie O'Donnell, great to see you. How you feeling? How's Ireland? Ireland's fantastic. I'm feeling very wobbly about what's happening politically in America, but very happy to be safely here. And I just moved in last night to this new house that we're in, and it's been six months, and, you know, it feels nice to be settled. First, how come when you're talking to me you're not,

oh, it's good to see you. It's been a long time, Cuomo. It's good to have you. Yeah, I love to talk to you, Como. It's good to have you. Yeah, I love to talk to you, Chris. You know I do. But I got to tell you, I want to paint a Guinness right now and that's all I want to do. How has it been for you there? I was really surprised when you actually did this.

I've heard a lot of people say, I gotta get away from Trump, I can't handle it. But you actually did it. Why and what's been the impact? I wasn't one of those people who said, if he gets elected, I'm gonna move. I knew that I would never move because I'm very much a homebody

and I like to be near my kids and in the same time zone and I don't like to not be able to be there to help them. And, you know, it's like a compulsion in some capacity, but I really felt this was self-preservation for me because during his first go-round, it was very difficult, and I got myself into some bad places. You know, I was very, very depressed. I was overeating. I was over drinking.

I was, you know, I was so depressed, Chris. I can't, you know, it, it hurt my heart that America believed the lies about him. And then it broke my heart to be in a business that creates and sells those lives for profit. You know, it was very heavy, to tell you the truth. And I knew in order for me to be a good parent to this 12-year-old child that I've got to be around for 20 more years, I need to take care of myself. And coming to Ireland was totally a way to take care of myself and my non-binary autistic

child who's going to need services and help and counseling and all the things that he's threatening to cut in his horrible plan of the big beautiful bill, which is big beautiful bullshit, frankly. Well, you're still tuned in, right? Because the phone, you know, unites everybody now. So going to another country doesn't put you in a different reality. What has Ireland done for you that has been an improvement? And then we'll get into the state of play in America. You know, when I got here, I

noticed right away there was a different culture about celebrity. They're not lauded in Ireland. They're not thought of as better than anyone else. And I read an article before I came about Jay-Z and Beyonce being in a park in Dublin, and no one went over and bothered them. And they were in shock. But you know, this is the culture of the country. and the culture is a familiar one because I'm 100% Irish. We did that 23andMe and you know we got Irish everywhere you look and coming home here felt like coming home. And I look at little children 10 years old the age I was when my mother died and I I think, that kid has my face.

And then I see a woman in her 30s, I'm like, she has my body. And I see a woman my age, and I think, wow, we've gotten old, you know? And then I see the women who would be my mom had she lived. The 85-year-olds in the Tesco, getting the fruit, and, you know, by themselves.

And it just hurts my heart to think Why are they alone in the supermarket, you know, like it listen I'm too sensitive for the world. I know this Chris, you know, I Wish I wish that I wasn't Now we need it. We need feelers. We need empaths. We need deep feelers, we need passionate people. It's just that there is a price. And you took on a very public and profound battle, which I told you, you won't remember, but many years ago when you were first getting it into it with him, I saw you on the view and I said,

you know, this is gonna affect you a lot more than it's gonna affect him. This is not a, you know, this is going to affect you a lot more than it's going to affect him. This is not a, you know, Trump, whatever Trump is or isn't is not a secret, but he is not a deep feeler. And you are. So what makes life different in Ireland in a way that matters? Well, first of all, my child who's 12 said to me, mommy, you can be a normal person here. And I was like, wow.

It feels, Chris, like before I was famous. It feels like what it used to feel like in America when I would go to Food Town or King Cullen and I would make the cashier laugh, not because I was Rosie O'Donnell, but because I was a funny kid and I was food shopping for the family because my mother had died and I would make jokes and get everybody to laugh. But you know, once you get famous, that's over because everybody has a pre-existing

theory about who you are and what you're about and whether you're a villain or a hero, they cast you in different roles and you can't really be sorry because that's sort of what you signed up for, right? We're all archetypes in some way. And you know, I find myself feeling safe. There's no MAGA support here. Older men in Ireland come over and go, you're Rosie O'Donnell. I saw you on the Late Late Show. Listen, love, is it true you come over here

because you hate Donald Trump? I said, yes, sir, it is. And he said, I'd like to buy you a Guinness. And he brings me over a pint, you know? And it's like, compare that to the day after the election, you know, people in CVS saying to me and my autistic 12-year-old, hey Rosie, Trump won, ha ha, you know? Or one cursed at us and she's like, why are they cursing at us? I'm like, honey, you know the bad guy? They're all bad guys too. So it's been a mental health break that you needed.

The kid is doing well there, but it's not like Rosie O'Donnell has escaped to a different reality. You are well aware of what's happening in America. And the first thing you said to me when we connected was, I got a lot of concerns about what's happening in American politics. Yeah, I do.

Chris, it keeps me up at night. It wakes me up at 4 a.m. I'm like, how can it be possible that in my 63 years of living, they told us Vietnam would be the last war that was ever fought, and it wasn't. And that was a lie, and the history we've been taught about our country

is a lie, and everybody has to agree finally to value the truth, and when reporters don't step up and say, what the hell are you talking about to Donald Trump, that abolishes the fourth estate of any power. And I don't understand, you know, although I know it was a business decision to move news out of the non-moneymaking journalism category

into entertainment. And when that happened, well, it was a free-for-all and You know Fox News doing what they did even Tucker Carlson is admitting what they did you know stealing all of our senior citizens with their bullshit and lies and simplicity and devious culture Listen it's overwhelming to me, Chris. I wish I could say it wasn't, but it still is. But I was so inspired on the 14th because I don't know about you, but I dreaded that whole day because I thought this is going to be another January 6th. It's going to pop off and pop off

and pop off. And it didn't. 12 million people and the two people who were killed were assassinated by a MAGA person. That's the reality of where we are. So the people, those 12 million people who are out there bring a friend next time. We got to do it next time and we got to do it right away. Look, I think that it's interesting that it resonates with you that way. You know, I kind of, I mentioned it on the 16th, my first day back after it.

But I gotta tell you, it didn't really resonate here at home the way it did with you. Not that it's seen differently, not that it seemed differently, that it seemed bad versus good or anything. It just kind of came and went because I guess of the Iran and the MAGA implosion, it wasn't as landmark. To every liberal, to every compassionate human being,

American, watching that day when they feared the dread of January 6 was going to be redone with this more fascist control that he has and, you know, taking people and sending them to El Salvador when they've done nothing wrong. 75% of the people he took had done nothing wrong. It's like how long are we going to be able to ignore the atrocities? We can't ignore the atrocities, Chris, or who are we, then we're the terrorists.

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Of course, protests go sideways all the time. It is interesting to me that you were in a place that has a very profound experience with what my biggest concern is in American life right now, which is not Donald Trump, My biggest concern is in American life right now, which is not Donald Trump, which is not anything tangible, but it's something that is still everywhere. Extremism. Ireland lived it as a rejection.

It was actually one of the first things I ever really got into in journalism was kind of the resurgence of the IRA and the reestablishing of Sinn Fein and extremism is very very powerful in American society right now and the big surrender has not been to MAGA has not been to Trump it has been in the state of play between the two parties which were saddled with were saddled with a binary system. So for Rosie to win, Cuomo's gotta lose. And the easiest way to win is to make the other side lose, to show it's worse, to beat it down.

And down that road, we've gotten to a place where anything I say or do is okay if it creates advantage. So now what we're seeing, Rosie, is, where anything I say or do is okay if it creates advantage. So now what we're seeing, Rosie, is like you just pointed out about Minnesota, that's not a coincidence that the guy is a MAGA guy, but he's also maybe a little crazy lefty, and he listens to Infowars, and then the IVF Clinic, and then Boulder, Colorado, and the Israeli embassy, and the healthcare CEO.

These are all extremists. They probably didn't like each other, but they have been conditioned to think anything you do to get your way is okay. That's my biggest fear in America today. Well, you know, that's sort of the patriarchy and the billionaire culture, Chris. Billionaires are running the show. And they're all talking about, you know, the left-wing conspiracy and all this stuff.

Listen, the people who've been in power and caused the wars, Republicans. Republicans, the people who crash our economy every time and the Democrats have to come in and save it. Republicans, you know, it's an antiquated theory that no longer has any power because of MAGA. Listen, I get you. I get you and I get the need for something different as an ethos in America. And we have had better periods than we have right now. We've had... Well, listen, there's gross excess in America, Chris.

And when I came to Ireland, I realized it. Tell me, what did you realize? Just how much gross excess there there is show me gross excess. The price of a house, the price of a four bedroom house in the middle of the city, in the middle of a village, in a sort of higher end area than not. When I tell people where I bought, they go, oh, when I go, really, it's just got a Tesco and two boutiques and a coffee shop and some pubs. It doesn't look like Rodeo Drive, Chris.

And that's when you realized what people value in America is very different than what they value in Ireland. They don't value your celebrity. They value who you are and what you do and whether or not you're gonna fight injustice because that's their 700, 800 year history is to fight the horrible injustices of the British throne against the Irish people. How do they see their history there,

their recent history of the IRA and the tactics that were used, which were seen in the history of the IRA and the tactics that were used, which were seen in the eyes of the law and not just the UK as terroristic to fight back the British threat of not only control of faith, but of the place. So how do they see it? All right, so let me ask you this.

What about the Warsaw uprising? What about? What was that? Was that people who were terrorists? Or was that people who were freedom fighters? Well, look, it depends on your perspective, right? When, I mean, obviously we're seeing that with Palestine and Israel also.

If you are oppressed and subjugated and desperate, what else can you do but that? Martin Luther King said that very often what we see in a riot is the voice of desperation, that they can't express themselves in any other way. And is that an excuse or is it an explanation? Depends on your perspective. Well, listen, I just think that we have to open up ourselves to a spiritual and metaphysical consciousness. We have to come out of the fact that lobbyists run

the safety of the country when people are shot in a level that no other country in the world has, you know, I mean, for how rich we are and how supposed great we are, we've caused a lot of mayhem in the world. How do they see us? I mean, I talk to people in Ireland on a regular basis, but I mean, living there is different.

What are their main takeaways of the American kind of resonance where they are? Well, they definitely do not follow it like I follow it. They all get in the car and say, you know, did you hear what happened yesterday? There were 12 million Americans out in towns and counties and red states and blue states standing up to this man who had 8,000 people show up at his birthday party

for $45 million. It's like the emperor has no clothes happened on the 14th. And America stood up and said, we see you naked and we've had enough, you know? And so that gave me the feeling of catharsis in a wonderful movie. That gave me what I know is the reason that we're alive, that kind of feeling. And I know that we're alive, that kind of feeling.

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No. No. No? That is not the answer I was expecting. You're going to stay in Ireland, so if I want to see you, I got to come there? Yeah. My kid has six more years until she graduates high school. So I just bought a house and we're going to stay here with this education system where she got in the autism class at the school, which is phenomenal.

How is it different than the school experience here? Well, the schools are free, number one. The first day I went, I said, what's the tuition? And they said, oh, you've got to put $10 in your Aladdin account, 10 euros in your Aladdin account so that you can get a free lunch if you want one. I said, so you're telling me it costs me $20 to go to your school? And they're like, yes.

We have free schools also, but I guess it's about the quality and the experience. How do you find it there? It's beautiful. It reminds me of 1970s Long Island, Chris. All these kids in like solid color shirts. And you know, I don't know if they have a no logo rule, but there's not a lot of logos, you know?

How about diversity? And these kids look, oh, there's all kinds of different flavors of humans there. There's all kinds of neurodiversity. My child has autism, moderate autism, and they're in a mainstream class with 30 children and probably like four in the class are autistic. And that's not easy. Autistic kids need to stim a lot and when they're home, they stim a lot.

But trying to keep it all together while you're at school is very, very difficult and stressful on their system, you know? So I'm very happy with the school system. I'm very happy that she has agency over herself now and knows that she's able to do things she never dreamed possible, like move to another country, and she understands. And she told her class, Chris, she said, I have to move to Ireland. And they said, why?

And she said, because the president hates my mom. But to tell you the truth, my mom hates him more. That was a fair analysis. How do you find the Irish political culture? And what is similar and different from how we practice it in America? Well, first of all, they're proud of their country and they know the history of their country and they know about the troubles,

and they don't pretend it didn't happen, and they understand the history of their country and they know about the troubles and they don't pretend it didn't happen and they understand the development of an IRA in an oppressed occupied country for so long, 700 years. You know, the famine wasn't really a famine. They took all the potatoes and shipped them to English people and so everybody starved. It was, you know, a genocide. That's what it was. And this is something that they hold so dear to their heart and they know about their culture and they're always taking the side of the oppressed in what I think is a beautiful and Jesus-like way. And it's very moving to me spiritually, and it's very moving to me emotionally. And I've learned a lot about myself

and how much my Irish upbringing really did affect me and the ways I am in the world and all the stereotypes that you hear about Irish people, that they're, like, emotionless and, you know, believe in witchcraft. You know, I mean, there's a lot of, you know, lore about being Irish, but actually being here amongst those people that I share a heritage with

is pretty overwhelming, Chris. So how have you received a very, very distinct difference in their political culture from ours? From those of you who are watching now, you're probably just Rosie fans, so it's great just to see her in here. But for those of you who are students of the podcast, I talk all the time about the death of the two party system. A parliamentary system, which is what they have in Ireland, and obviously there's also communication with the broader UK there as a distinct nation within it, but they have about six operative parties

and they have coalitions and have consistently since the 1980s, I think in the 1980s was the last time they had majority control by a single party there. So how is that a different vibe when people talk about parties and politics there versus here? Well, listen, I can tell you this, the, you know, sort of the Donald Trump of Ireland now,

a man with a conviction in some capacity for a sex crime on both of those men, Conor McGregor announced he was going to run for president and no Irish person supported him. All they would talk about was how he doesn't represent Ireland, how he's not a spokesman for who we are, how he doesn't understand and he lost his way. And this is a very moral nation.

a very moral nation. And there's no celebrity culture here. Now listen, it's as small as South Carolina. Right. It's not like they're gonna have like 50,000 celebrities. It's small, right? So they have like 10, right? Irish, all the way Irish. And then I come here and that's sort of news,

which is funny for me, Chris, because I never feel like that could possibly be true. But I mean, look, you are living in a place that has a very unique aspect to it that we're dealing with, and not just the shamrocks. Yes, they were oppressed for 700 years. You still have Northern Ireland, two million people, you're in Ireland proper, which is what, five and change or something like that, last time I checked, somewhere around five

and six. So you still have Northern Ireland that's part of the UK that really is supposed to be part of Ireland. I mean, they're still dealing with that on some level. I know, totally. They don't give the counties back, but you know, listen, this is the continued occupation of Ireland. It shouldn't be this way.

And they shouldn't be allowed to do this, to continue oppressing people that they nearly slaughtered. You know, it shouldn't be this way. Are you gonna take that up by the way? Are you gonna start going after the Royals? They nearly slaughtered, you know? It shouldn't be this way. Are you gonna take that up, by the way? Are you gonna start going after the royals? Are you gonna be like the new Morrissey over there, kind of singing about the crown?

The royals, you mean, like, the royal family? You know, like, the UK, let my people go. Am I gonna have Rosie O'Donnell? Am I gonna come see you and you're gonna be like, hey, put this shirt on. Oh, no, no, no. But you may, you may, you know, you may hear me talking with the Brogue and saying, like, you know,

we all gotta be nicer to each other, don't we, love? Now, get on with it, Rosie. Here's a true story, Chris. The lollipop lady, which is the crossing guard, her name is Angela, and she knows every kid's name. So the kids are walking in and she's like, Hello, Deidre. Hello, Michael. Hello, Sean. How are you, Patrick?

What's up, Fiona? Lovely to see you. Hello, mom. How are you, Johnny? How are you, Steve? Right. So first day we walk in, she goes, New kid, new kid. She's a name. And Clay goes, Clay. she goes, new kid, new kid. She's a name. And Clay goes, Clay, she goes, all right, mom. I said, yes, I'm the mom.

So about three weeks later, I'm watching her every day do this. She sees me and she goes, hey, mom. I said, yes, because you're new here. I said, yes. She goes, what's your name? I said, Rosie. So what's your surname? Said, O'Donnell. She said, oh, just like the famous actress. I said, I am the famous actress.

And she said, don't you be lying to me. I've seen Rosie O'Donnell with the black mane of hair, long hair. She was in a lot of movies. I loved the Flintstones. I loved the baseball movie. I know Rosie O'Donnell, but you, if I stepped on you, I wouldn't have known. So don't you be saying you're somebody else just because

you have the same name." And I was like, okay. And then she told me that I couldn't walk my kid to school anymore because the kid was trying to dart in front of me and couldn't I tell she didn't want to be with me? And I was like, thanks a lot, Angela. She's like, I'm just telling you, I haven't lost a kid in 40 years, Rosie. I know when the kids start doing that, they want to walk alone. You're not in New York City. You're in Dublin. It's safe here. Your kids going to be fine.

You're not so important. Nobody's going to come and snatch your kid. I haven't even had a skin knee, Rosie. I haven't had a skin knee. When do you get that in America now? You know what I mean? Look, you don't need me to tell you that there are a lot of unknowns

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What is your message to those of us who are still here? One, in terms of the Rosie abandoned us. Two, what do you make of, what do you want people to know, liberals specifically, about what their posture should be about this big question that is looming over us right now about what direction we're going to go with this current conflict in the Middle East? Well, for many, many years, Israel has wanted to do this to Iran. And presidents before this one forbid it. And this one apparently has decided to allow it. So it's a whole new step into them trying to consolidate power amongst these patriarchal,

fascist, white men who are all criminals and, you know, get validity somewhere in his mind. And I feel sorry that people think I abandoned them, but I understand, but I also know that I had to save myself before I put anybody else's mask on, including my kids. And I have five children, and even though they're between the ages of 12 and 30,

they still need their mom. And that's a surprise to me, Chris, because, you know, I didn't have parents at that age. So I was like, wow, this is sort of odd. Just they see how much they really still need you when they're out of the house, you know. Telling me. I was just telling somebody that's very funny, somebody I know. I'm a firefighter in my village now. I decided I finally wanted to do something for somebody else 54 years in.

And a lot of them are young guys and getting into the baby game. And I said, here's what they don't tell you. It never ends. 22 versus two is the same fucking job. It's just different requirements and the older they get, the more they fight the parenting. The best period is the period everybody fears

in the beginning when they're breaking shit. At least they're breaking shit because they don't know early on and it never ends. So everybody needs a parent. I had this Jamaican lady was the hospice nurse for my father and she hit me with one of, she hit me with two of their great aphorisms. One is once a man, twice a child, which is so true about the elderly experience. And the other one is, yes, a boy is not a man. And this is certainly true. A girl is not a woman. A kid is not

an adult until they lose their parents. And when I lost my father, it was a unique experience of feeling alone and having to do for yourself and tapping into things. So for me, Rosie, it doesn't matter where you are, because for me, the value in you is that you are a real one, as the kids say these days. You are authentic, you are consistent, and you feel very deeply, and those are precious commodities to me, so I will find you wherever you are.

And you are always welcome with me. How's your mom doing? So my mother is great physically, 93 years old, would see a movie or a show with you on it. And I'd say, who is that? And she'd say, Rosie O'Donnell. And then she would look at me and say, who's asking? So she goes in and out of knowing who we are.

Now did she confuse you with the Rio brothers or did she think you were someone else? She, it's, that was a year ago. Now we are, if I don't see her a lot, like if I'm not in there every week, it's looking at me and the nurse or my sister saying, look, it's Christopher. And she'll say, yes, I know you in my heart.

And I'll show her my son, who's the only son in 14 grandkids. He's now a model for IMG. He goes to school in St. Andrews, Scotland, by the way. So, you know, we've been going over, there was a great move for him to get him some exposure and cultural sophistication. But when she sees him, it's like she's looking at Jesus.

Cause his name is Mario. But isn't that what you want from a grandmother? Isn't that what you want? Yeah, she's great. She's great. And because we went through what we did with my father, I have a lot more understanding of, hey, this is not the mom that was with me in Queens. This isn't the mom that, you know, I knew 15 years ago. This is a different lady.

She's sweet. she's happy, that's enough. So I got low expectations and she's healthy and happy. What else do I want, Rosie? That's all you need. And listen, they ushered us in and it's our job to usher them out. Yeah, we suck at that.

And it's a very hard thing, this life and death. People don't know what to do with it in America, you know? And it's very difficult to face, but one has to, because this is the reality of our lives. Yep. Right, this is the totality of our existence. What do you stand for? And as they say in Hamilton,

who lives, who dies, who tells your story? You know know if it's not you as you age into your 60s and your 70s if you're lucky you know then who will and so Tell your truth tell your story. You know I was a kid who Wasn't supposed to become a famous person. I become a famous person. I, you know, was a chubby gay kid who talked too tough and liked boys baseball and, you know, I was a little rascal, you know. But how did I become this? I don't know, but I tell you, there aren't many countries that somebody can do what I did. And that's why, you know, I will always love my country and I will always be grateful and I will always be a part of it no matter where I am. Well remember that the next time we speak

and you're like you've been watching the football and here's your chalali for you Komo. Rosie O'Donnell I miss you I wish you well I'm always a call away. Best to you and the family. Thank you, honey. Thank you very much. Good to see you. Rosie, thank you for doing it. Sure, my pleasure. ["The Big Bang"] Politics is still the same, but boy, her life choices have changed.

And it's amazing that she believes she won't come back here. It's hard for me to believe it, but gotta take her at her word and I understand her motivations. It's really interesting how this battle between right and left with MAGA and Woke as two competing fringe mentalities have really shaped the reality for all of us. It's really interesting.

And Rosie O'Nannell is an example of how far people are willing to go to change what they see as the political reality here at home. What do you think? Let me know. Thank you for subscribing and following here at The Chris Cuomo Project.

Thank you for checking me out at NewsNation, 8P and 11P every week, day, night, Eastern. And thank you for hitting up the sub stack. Okay. Yes. If you subscribe, you'll get love from me in the comments and from my guests with lives I'll be doing every week. I'm using the money to help people get long COVID treatment and to crowdsource contributions

like we did for Peter, the foster parent the other night, gave him 10 grand. That came from my sub-stack earnings. So thank you very much, my brothers and sisters. The problems are real. Our attitude must be the same. Let's get after it.