What they're saying: The fallout from Roseanne's racist tweet
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President Trump finally spoke out about Roseanne Barr's firing on Wednesday, saying Disney CEO Bob Iger "never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC."
Flashback: Just yesterday on Air Force One, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that Trump was focused on his upcoming summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, outstanding trade talks, and rebuilding the military, adding "that’s what he’s spending his time on; not responding to other things."
The big picture: Despite saying on Tuesday that she would be "now leaving Twitter" after making racist remarks about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Roseanne Barr has been as active as ever on Twitter, blaming her outburst on prescription medication.
What she's saying:
- In a deleted tweet, Barr blamed her racist remarks on taking Ambien, a sleep medication, Gizmodo reports: "I think Joe Rogan is right about ambien. Not giving excuses for what I did(tweeted) but I've done weird stuff while on ambien-cracked eggs on the wall at 2am etc -"
- In another deleted tweet, she said something similar: "guys I did something unforgiveable so do not defend me. It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting-it was memorial day too- i went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible. I made a mistake I wish I hadn't but...don't defend it please. ty"
- Meghan McCain said on The View: "It's interesting that ABC holds a higher standard to their employees than apparently the White House does."
- Barr's common defense was that she didn't know Jarrett's race, tweeting last night: "i thought she was saudi."
- Later in the night, she said of Jarrett, "i honestly thought she was Jewish and Persian-ignorant of me for sure, but...i did."
- But, but, but: Two hours after that tweet, Barr also said: "yes, I mistakenly thought she was white."
What they're saying:
- Michael Caputo, former Trump campaign aide and chief marketing officer of Bond, an online streaming startup, told The Daily Beast's Lachlan Markay he wanted to "reach out to Roseanne [Barr] immediately" in order to give Barr's cancelled show a new home.
- Sanofi US, the drug company that makes Ambien, tweeted: "People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."
- Her "Roseanne" co-star Sara Gilbert tweeted yesterday: "Roseanne’s recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show. I am disappointed in her actions to say the least."
- Another co-star, Michael Fishman, added: "I condemn these statement vehemently. They are reprehensible and intolerable, contradicting my beliefs and outlook on life and society."
- She responded to Gilbert: "Wow! unreal." And to Fishman: "You throw me under the bus. nice!"
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