Donald Trump is taking some heat for his famous failure to call the families of fallen U.S. soldiers but making sure he had time to call Roseanne Barr to congratulate her on the ratings for her new show.
This week marked the controversial reboot of the popular 1980s and 90s sitcom Roseanne with Roseanne Barr portraying the show’s main character as a supporter of Donald Trump (just as Roseanne is in real life). The show debuted this week to big ratings, and Trump — who is always keen on getting big ratings — gave Roseanne a personal call to congratulate her, BBC News reported.
The call caught the attention of the internet, with many noting that Trump has not made time for some very important duties of being president still had time to call his friend to congratulate her on television ratings. Roland Scahill, a Broadway producer, pointed out that Trump skipped out on calls to families of fallen service members but found time to call Roseanne.
After Trump bragged that he made calls to the families of service members even though his predecessors did not (a claim that was not true, as both Barack Obama and George W. Bush placed personal calls to grieving families), the Chicago Tribune reported that Trump often skipped out on calling families .
Next time Donald Trump doesn’t have the time to call a family of a dead US servicemen killed in action, remember that he has the time to call Roseanne Barr to congratulate her on ‘ratings’
— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) March 29, 2018
Others noted that Trump has been silent on a number of controversial issues, including not sharing with the American public the rationale for his latest ban on transgender members serving in the U.S. military.
Trump called Roseanne Barr to congratulate her on her ratings.
This is the same guy who wouldn’t even call Rex Tillerson to tell him he was fired.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) March 29, 2018
? Address his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels ? Explain why he’s banning trans soldiers from the military ? Offer condolences to the latest unarmed black man killed by police ?? Call Roseanne https://t.co/IwMWCGL7eo
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) March 29, 2018
Roseanne’s new show has not been without controversy. Even before it debuted this week, there was a campaign spreading across social media to boycott the show over Roseanne Barr’s support of Donald Trump. Others attacked the support Roseanne’s character shows for Trump, though those involved in the show said that is not a central theme as some have suggested.
Showrunner Bruce Helford told the Hollywood Reporter that Roseanne’s Trump support does not define the show and called on viewers to give it a change before making any snap judgments.
“You have to give the show about three episodes to see what it really is,” he said. “Don’t just go with what you hear; go with what you see.”
Though he may have given her a personal call to Roseanne Barr to offer congratulations on the ratings, Donald Trump has yet to mention the show or his friend on his favorite medium, Twitter.
