Roseanne's Penchant for Lying in the Name of Trump

Roseanne is in the midst of its television revival, with 15.2 million viewers tuning in last week to watch the third episode of the newest season. To the chagrin of many, the show's star, Roseanne Barr, is an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump (just like the character). Here are a few of the things Barr has said in support of the embattled popular vote loser:

Rewriting history about Trump's positions on LGBT rights:
Before the revival's premiere, Barr spoke with New York Times reporter Patrick Healy to discuss the show, politics, and what has changed since the initial run of the sitcom ended 20 years ago. When asked how she could back Trump when many of his stances go against what Barr and her character have supported, the actress disagreed, saying, "He voices [his stances] quite well." Immediately afterward, Healy said he was referring specifically to Trump's stances on "abortion rights, same-sex marriage rights, labor protections," to which Barr again disagreed, saying, "He doesn't oppose same-sex marriage...he's not homophobic at all."

This claim is easily disputable -- Trump does not support marriage equality and never did. As president, he's installed judges that support overturning the right to marry, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. On top of that, Trump has a documented history of opposing all kinds of LGBT rights. He has attempted to ban trans people from serving in the armed forces, and his Justice Department intervened in a federal case in New York last year, arguing that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not protect against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

These two examples are just scratching the surface of Trump's disdain for the LGBT people (or possibly his convenient use of them as scapegoats) and go against Barr's supposed liberal tendencies. After all, Barr orchestrated one of the first same-sex kisses on television.

Tweeting about Trump's fake accomplishments:
Four days after the show's premiere on March 27, Barr, in a now-deleted tweet, seemed to endorse what is widely considered to be an untrue conspiracy theory.

The tweet read, "President Trump has freed so many children held in bondage to pimps all over this world. Hundreds each month. He has broken up trafficking rings in high places everywhere. notice that. I disagree on some things, but give him benefit of doubt-4 now."

Many on Twitter spoke out against the claim, asking Barr to provide evidence or any sort of factual backing. The conspiracy theory comes from popular site 4chan; more specifically, a user named "QAnon" who claims to be a "government operative with the highest level of security clearance," according to The Washington Post. The theory attempts to link the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton to a sex-trafficking ring being kept under wraps. Despite the user's self-proclaimed security clearance, there is no evidence supporting his claims.

Now, under the watchful eye of her employer, ABC, Barr has become more restrained in her tweets, usually just retweeting pro-Trump messages. She has adopted the speech of the troll in chief, though.

Making false comparisons between Trump and Hillary Clinton:
In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Barr explained her support for Trump simply, saying, "I think we would be so lucky if Trump won. Because then it wouldn't be Hillary." Barr went on to express her disdain for Clinton, saying, "She's friends with everybody that gives her any goddamned money...I like Trump because he financed his own [campaign]."

Trump may have dumped his own money into his presidential campaign, but he had plenty of outside help -- including from shady right-wing figures like the father-daughter team of Robert and Rebekah Mercer, now entangled in a scandal involving the secret compiling of Facebook data as a way to target users with pro-Trump propaganda.

Pushing widely debunked conspiracy theories about Clinton:
Barr hasn't apologized for pushing the aforementioned -- and untrue -- story that the former secretary of State and first lady was involved in a pedophile ring allegedly run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor. A 28-year-old man shot up the pizza place in December 2016 because he believed the hoax to be real. Barr also promoted the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. Rich was a Democratic National Committee staffer killed in what police believe was a botched mugging, but a theory has persisted that Clinton had him rubbed out because he had dirt on her. Rich's family is incensed at their son being used as the latest right-wing conspiracy theory and recently sued Fox News for propagating the hoax.

Barr sent tweets promoting both Pizzagate and the Seth Rich hoax last year -- after Trump was elected. Maybe she's trying to justify her support for Trump by creating false narratives about Clinton? Barr also tweeted a meme in November that featured Trump's image and the following caption: "When everyone who has been calling you racist for the past 2 years are pedophiles." She deleted that one, thankfully.

Barr has also said that Clinton surrounds herself with "jew haters who make fun of the holocaust & jewish suffering," though it's Barr who once dressed up as Adolf Hitler and ate charred gingerbread cookies pulled from an oven (for a satirical Jewish magazine called Heeb, though we're missing the humor or intended statement in her photo shoot).