Just before 10:00 this morning, Tr*mp lashed out in what seemed to be an attempt to regain control of the narrative, hitting as many MAGA talking points as he could with an attack on comedian and talk show host Rosie O’Donnell, who has relocated from her native U.S.—she was born in New York—to Ireland out of concern for her family in Tr*mp’s America. “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

The president’s suggestion that he has the power to revoke the citizenship of a natural-born American—he does not—escalates his authoritarian claims. It comes after a federal judge on Thursday barred the administration from denying citizenship to U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, giving the administration time to appeal.

O’Donnell responded on Instagram:
“hey donald—you’re rattled again?18 years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours.you call me a threat to humanity—but I’m everything you fear:a loud womana queer womana mother who tells the truthan american who got out of the country b4 you set it ablazeyou build walls—I build a life for my autistic kid in a country where decency still existsyou crave loyalty—I teach my children to question poweryou sell fear on golf coursesI make art about surviving traumaYou lie, you steal, you degrade—I nurture, I create, I persistyou are everything that is wrong with america—and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with ityou want to revoke my citizenship?go ahead and try, king joffrey* with a tangerine spray tani’m not yours to silencei never was”
*Joffrey is a monstrous, stupid, vicious king in Game of Thrones.…’ — Heather Cox Richardson