Rosie O’Donnell said she was “horrified” after President Donald Trump reportedly asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to rescind a red card given to U.S. player Folarin Balogun during America’s round of 16 knockout match against Belgium.
Speaking to Variety, O’Donnell said the episode reflected a broader problem with Trump’s ability to push past normal rules and institutions without facing meaningful resistance.
“The fact that he called up FIFA and had the penalty revoked for the American team and America was like, ‘Yeah, that’s good! I didn’t think it was a red card anyway!’ Well, you’re not the freakin’ ref!” O’Donnell said.
She argued that even Americans who agreed with the outcome were missing the larger issue. In her view, the question was not whether the referee made the correct call, but whether a political figure should have any role in changing the result of an on-field decision.
“You don’t get to decide!” she said. “Since when does he get to make and change the rules, the goalposts, whatever metaphor you want to use, and everyone just sits by and shrugs their shoulders?”
O’Donnell said she believes people have become so accustomed to controversy surrounding Trump that actions that should alarm the public are often treated as just another passing headline.
“There’s so much [corruption] that we don’t even notice it,” she said.
The comedian and actress also criticized the reaction from the American team and its fans. She said she was troubled that Balogun did not refuse to continue playing after the red card was rescinded. She also said the team’s coach should have rejected the benefit of Trump’s intervention.
“The fact that [Balogun] did not say, ‘I will not play this game,’ and the fact that the coach of the American team did not say, ‘This is not how we win,’ and that everyone was just like, ‘Well, whatever!’ I was horrified,” O’Donnell said.
She added that Trump’s ability to avoid consequences remains one of the things that frustrates her most.
“I’m horrified that he is able to get away with pretty much everything, and it’s sickening,” she said.
O’Donnell, who moved to Ireland last year, also repeated her long-running criticism of Trump’s character and leadership. She described him as “mediocre” and said she believes his presidency has damaged the country.
“This is a man who has been a failure at everything he’s ever tried, and he is mediocre beyond mediocre,” she told Variety.
“And the fact that he is running our nation is an abomination,” O’Donnell continued. “It’s the worst thing that ever happened to our country and I think it needs to be rectified sooner rather than later if we are to remain a democratic republic.”
Breitbart News has previously reported on O’Donnell’s frequent TikTok posts attacking Trump, including claims that he could use an “assassination attempt or terrorist bombing” as a pretext to cancel this year’s midterm elections.
O’Donnell also told Variety she does not want “the stress and anxiety associated with the constant barrage of him,” even though she has returned to the United States several times after previously saying she would not.
