Actress and media personality Rosie O'Donnell has drawn criticism for comparing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities to concentration camps, stating in a TikTok video that fascism is currently prevalent in the United States. O'Donnell posted the video on a Friday, discussing various topics before shifting to her critique of the Trump administration.
Referencing the Holocaust, O'Donnell stated, "We all vowed ‘Never Again,’ remember?" She further claimed that people are shocked by how Germans allowed fascism to take over and asserted that fascism is currently in full swing in the U.S.
"We’re making concentration camps… We’re rounding up people without a warrant. We’re raping children in detention, in ICE detention, they’re all getting pregnant," O'Donnell said in the video. She raised questions about who has access to detained girls and the fate of their babies.
O'Donnell also criticized former President Donald Trump, stating that his supporters are in denial and that Trump is not a president for all people but rather for "White powerful men, where women are disregarded in that equation usually." She suggested that "people with a heart" like Dolly Parton should lead the world.
This is not the first time O'Donnell has made critical comparisons. In July of the previous year, she likened ICE to Nazi Germany's Gestapo and questioned what it would take for Americans to speak out against perceived atrocities. She also suggested that Trump would arrest artists who disagreed with him.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis responded to O'Donnell's comments, calling them "gross." Bis provided a list of recent ICE arrests of individuals accused of violent crimes, including strangulation, battery, and child molestation. According to Bis, such comparisons to Nazis contribute to an increase in assaults and death threats against law enforcement officers.
O'Donnell has a history of publicly opposing Trump and his administration.