Rosie O’Donnell Responds to Backlash Over Suggesting Barron Trump Might Be Autistic

Rosie O’Donnell said she has “no ill will” toward President-elect Donald Trump’s children after the comedian shared a video that suggested that his youngest son, Barron, might be autistic.

In a poem posted on her website on Saturday, O’Donnell explained that she had become “immersed” in researching the condition after her 3-year-old daughter, Dakota, was diagnosed with high-functioning autism in September.

“as we try to grab onto / anything to keep us standing / the knowledge we r not alone / there r others living this too,” she wrote. “when i saw the anti bullying video / that mentioned barron / it spoke to the symptoms many ASD kids have / it was educational and informational.”

She added that if the news were true, it “would help so much with the autism epidemic.” “i feel he is a clear and present danger / but this autism subject — / had nothing to do with donald / though i admit / he does trigger me in all ways,” she wrote.

The controversy started this past Monday, when O’Donnell shared a seven-minute video compiling clips from the Republican National Convention, the presidential debates, and Trump’s acceptance speech that suggested 10-year-old Barron might be showing signs of autism. Critics bashed O’Donnell for placing an unnecessary spotlight on the youngest of the president-elect’s children.

O’Donnell and Trump have a long, tumultuous history of feuds, and O’Donnell has previously written a poem about another member of the Trump clan: His daughter, Ivanka. In October, O’Donnell wrote that Ivanka Trump was “absurdly nice” when the two met in a chance run-in.

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