‘Roseanne’ Actress Sandra Bernhard Has Something to Say About Women Who Support Trump

Roseanne Barr is suddenly on everyone’s mind again. It’s not just the revival of her self-titled sitcom that has everyone talking though. She’s been particularly vocal about her support for Donald Trump, a quality shared by her onscreen persona. Trump even called to congratulate her on the premiere, which saw 18 million people tuning in.

it was a thrill to get a congratulatory phone call from The President of The United States of America. POTUS is the Fifth President I have received support from! what a life!

— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 29, 2018

But at least one Roseanne star doesn’t quite agree with the star’s political views. This week, out comic/actress Sandra Bernhard spoke with Ari Melber on MSNBC to discuss the show’s highly-anticipated return. In particular, she had something to say about women who support Trump.

“Can’t understand it, don’t know where it comes from,” she said when asked about white women for Trump. “I think it’s a couple of issues. It’s being either under the thumb of your husband, or for the election, it was being so offended by Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton’s legacy that you turned on her. Or feeling inadequate, feeling like how could somebody be so educated, how could somebody have brought themselves up from their own experience and gone to the top, educated herself, fought for civil rights and equality? And I think that’s threatening to a lot of women. A lot of women have compromised, given in, gotten married, raised their kids, and not have the luxury of being able to think for themselves.”

Yes I’ll be on the 9th episode #Nancy is back @RoseanneOnABC https://t.co/01SaCU8vnS

— Sandra Bernhard (@SandraBernhard) March 27, 2018

Regardless of their differing views, Bernhard will be reprising her role as Nancy Bartlett in the revival. The role became particularly notable when Bartlett came out as lesbian, a pivotal moment for TV in the ‘90s.

“It was just really sort of a funny evolution for the character,” Bernhard said. “When Roseanne and I talked about keeping my character on, Nancy Bartlett, we said, ‘Well, what are we gonna do? How can we keep her fun and relevant?’ We said, ‘Let’s make her gay.’ Nobody was thinking we were gonna shake things up and break all the stereotypes, but because of that, it became something that was very powerful. Because we didn’t go at it with a sledgehammer.”