Rosie O’Donnell says she ‘prays’ for ‘criminal’ Donald Trump to be imprisoned

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Rosie O’Donnell has said she “prays to God” that Donald Trump ends up going to prison.

The actor and former talk show host was famously involved in a long-running feud with Trump prior to his presidency.

O’Donnell told a TMZ photographer on Monday (18 January) that she “prays to God” that Trump “does time”, and that she supports the work of Letitia James, the New York attorney general who is in charge of a civil probe into the Trump organisation.

“Letitia James, she’s going to get them on the 21st, I hope,” O’Donnell said. “He’s a criminal and he has been since he first started in public life many years ago.”

She added: “I think it’s a terrifying time ... and what happened at the Capitol was something I never thought I’d see in this country. It was an insurrection, it was sedition and everyone involved should be punished to the full extent of the law.”

O’Donnell and Trump’s public feud began in 2007 when she described him as a “snake-oil salesman” during an episode of her former talk show The View. O’Donnell also claimed that Trump was bankrupt, and was “not a self-made man”.

In response, Trump threatened to sue O’Donnell, adding: “Rosie’s a loser. A real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie.”

Trump subsequently sent to The View co-host Barbara Walters a bustier and underwear worn by O’Donnell in the film Exit to Eden (1994), which had been sent to him by a fan.

“I sent it to Barbara to hang in her office because I didn’t want it in mine,” Trump told Page Six. “It was funny, except that it was really gross. It’s disgusting. I feel sorry for [Rosie’s] wife. It can’t be pleasant.”

In 2016, TV personality Megyn Kelly asked Trump about his history of referring to women as “fat pigs”, “dogs”, “slobs” and “disgusting animals”. In response, Trump said: “Only Rosie O’Donnell.”

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Trump is about to embark upon his final day in office ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday (20 January).

Last night (18 January), a number of comedians, including Stephen Colbert and Conan O’Brien, used their US TV shows to mock speculation about a rash of last-minute presidential pardons for Trump allies.