Donald Trump Gifts Roseanne Barr a Gun
From left: Donald Trump is pictured on May 20, 2024 in New York City; Roseanne Barr is seen on March 23, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. Comedian Barr has shared video footage of former President Trump gifting her an autographed gun.
Roseanne Barr has shared video footage of Donald Trump autographing a gun for her amid her continued support for the former president.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday, the comedian posted seconds-long footage of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Trump signing a firearm with a gold marker as he expressed his appreciation of her.
"We love you, Roseanne," Trump said as he sported one of his signature Make America Great Again caps. "I'm signing this especially for you, and we love everything you represent. Keep fighting. Thank you."
Captioning the post Barr, who voted for Trump in 2016 and has supported him since, wrote: "I believe our forefathers (and foremothers) envisioned this very moment when they wrote the Second Amendment. Can't wait for my Trump gun!"
When contacted for comment, Barr's son, Jake Pentland, told Newsweek that the Roseanne star received the firearm via "a charity for animals. My mom donated and received the signed gun for her donation."
As of press time, the post has garnered more than 150,000 views. Newsweek has contacted a representative of Trump via email for comment.
Trump addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) at the group's annual meeting in Texas on Saturday. The NRA officially endorsed him for president moments before he took the stage.
"The Texas spirit of proud independence was forged by cowboys and cattle hands, ranchers and rangers, oil workers, soldiers and brave, brave, brave, pioneers," Trump said at the event. "Many came here with nothing but the boots or their feet, the clothes on their back, and the gun in their saddle. Together they helped make America into the single greatest nation in the history of the world."
Taking a swipe at his political adversary President Joe Biden, Trump went on to state that "now we are a nation in decline. We are a nation that has the highest inflation in 58 years, where banks are collapsing, and interest rates are skyrocketing."
In recent months, Trump has touted a "God Bless the USA Bible," which costs $59.99 and promoted limited edition gold Trump-branded sneakers for $399. He has also sold digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like images as a number of characters, including as a superhero, astronaut and NASCAR driver.
Meanwhile, Barr last year returned to the spotlight with her stand-up special Roseanne Barr: Cancel This!. Barr said that she was essentially banished from Hollywood in May 2018, after she tweeted that the "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby," referring to Valerie Jarrett—a former senior adviser to former President Barack Obama—who is Black.
Barr said at the time that she wouldn't have tweeted the joke had she known Jarrett was Black, and that she would have apologized on air, but ABC decided to fire her from her show, Roseanne, before she could. The network brought the show back as The Connors, with her lead character killed off.
The TV personality had been a staunch progressive earlier in her career, once protesting at an Occupy Wall Street rally and running for president first for the Green Party and later the Peace and Freedom Party. In 2016, she voted for Trump.
When asked in December by Newsweek why, in the face of mounting scrutiny and backlash, Barr continues to publicly share her political takes, the comedian responded: "It's important for me to keep speaking because I can't let the f****** win. That's why."
Update 5/22/24, 11:50 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Pentland.
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