In between firing Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin and soldiering through one of close aide Hope Hicks' last days at the White House, President Trump got to talk about something he loves — ratings — with someone who loves him: Roseanne Barr.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Trump's call to Barr, and people with knowledge of their discussion told The New York Times that Trump was in awe of the "huge" ratings the reboot of Roseanne earned for its premiere Tuesday night — an average of 18.2 million viewers. Trump is famously obsessed with ratings, and when Trump still hosted The Apprentice, he bragged about it being the No. 1 show on television even when it wasn't in the Top 10.
The original iteration of Roseanne ran for nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997, and covered issues like abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Both the Roseanne on the show and Roseanne in real life support Trump; Barr told the Times earlier this week that she feels her character is an "accurate portrayal" of many working-class Americans.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
A crowded field of Democrats is filling up the California governor’s raceIn the Spotlight Over a dozen Democrats have declared their candidacy
-
Nitazene is elusively raising opioid deathsThe explainer The drug is usually consumed accidentally
-
Can medical debt hurt your credit?The explainer The short answer is yes, though it depends on the credit scoring mode
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
