Rosie O'Donnell said she has "no ill will" toward President-elect Donald Trump's children after the comedian shared a video that suggested that his youngest son, Barron, might be autistic.
Numerous people that have engaged with his son, who attends one of Manhattan's most prestigious schools, say he does not suffer from autism. But the facts seem to matter little to the comedian who has long feuded with Trump, who has called her a "fat pig."
In a poem posted on her website on Saturday, O'Donnell explained that she had become "immersed" in researching the condition after her 3-year-old daughter, Dakota, was diagnosed with high-functioning autism in September.
"as we try to grab onto / anything to keep us standing / the knowledge we r not alone / there r others living this too," she wrote. "when i saw the anti bullying video / that mentioned barron / it spoke to the symptoms many ASD kids have / it was educational and informational."
She added that if the news were true, it "would help so much with the autism epidemic." "i feel he is a clear and present danger / but this autism subject -- / had nothing to do with donald / though i admit / he does trigger me in all ways," she wrote.
The controversy started this past Monday, when O'Donnell shared a seven-minute video compiling clips from the Republican National Convention, the presidential debates, and Trump's acceptance speech that suggested 10-year-old Barron might be showing signs of autism. Critics bashed O'Donnell for placing an unnecessary spotlight on the youngest of the president-elect's children.
O'Donnell and Trump have a long, tumultuous history of feuds, and O'Donnell has previously written a poem about another member of the Trump clan: His daughter, Ivanka. In October, O'Donnell wrote that Ivanka Trump was "absurdly nice" when the two met in a chance run-in.
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