Comedian Rosie O’Donnell has revealed why she needed to "flee" the United States after Donald Trump became President – saying it was for the "safety and sanity of myself and my non-binary child".
Rosie revealed last month she had moved to Ireland and is living in Howth, Co Dublin.
She told CNN’s The Situation Room that "not a day has gone by that I thought it was the wrong decision".
But she said since moving to Ireland a few months ago, her 12-year-old youngest child Clay, who is autistic, "couldn’t be happier".
She said: "There’s a great, great school there," she said while discussing her Hulu documentary special Unleashing Hope: The Power of Service Dogs for Children With Autism.
"And Clay has done very well. And they were really welcoming.
"And I love the little town, the little village. It’s in the heart of Dublin, but it’s still a village where you know the name of the grocer and you know the name of the cashiers. People are unbearably kind in a way that shocks me every single day."
Last month, O'Donnell revealed how she and her youngest child Clay moved to Ireland, where her grandparents are from, and she is now in the process of applying for Irish citizenship.
Revealing that she already decided to leave the country if Trump won the presidency, she told CNN: "And although I was not one of the celebrities who announced that that’s what I would do, I made the decision within my family and my therapist should he win."
She said that both her and her son were "gone before he was inaugurated" and are now both settling into her new life in Ireland.
"We chose Ireland and didn’t really know where to go," O’Donnell told Us Weekly. "Someone said Dalkey and I found a house online that was in Glengarry. But when the people who were helping us move in went there, there was mould in it."
She said she couldn’t move there "especially with an autistic child who has some allergy issues," and so they ended up in Howth, where they stayed in an Airbnb.
Her move followed closely after that of fellow comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who set up camp permanently in the Cotswolds in England with her wife, Portia de Rossi.
While O’Donnell hasn’t been in touch with the former talk show host, 67, she admitted that she was "shocked" to learn DeGeneres and the Arrested Development actress ditched Hollywood.
"I’ve never really known Ellen to say anything political in her life, so I was surprised to read that she left because of President Trump. Like, that shocked me, actually," O’Donnell told the outlet.
"I’ve been a political person my whole life, not better or worse, it’s just a different way to be in the world. I was very clear about the reason why I was leaving, and I don’t think it came as a surprise to anyone."
Elsewhere, the Emmy winner said that while she enjoys building a new life in Ireland, she misses her adult children and close pals who are still living stateside.
"It’s been very hard because of the time zone for me to participate in that. And I really miss that," she said. "I call my kids, I FaceTime my kids. I have two best friends, Junie and Jackie, since I [was] three years old."
"They’re really like sisters. And I talk to them all the time. I have two brothers I’m very close to. I talk to them all the time," she added.
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