President Trump Calls ABC Network’s Shutdown of ‘Roseanne’ Hypocritical, Says He Never Got An Apology After Being Criticised

U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on ABC Network’s decision to cancel the hit show ‘Roseanne’ after the protagonist Roseanne Barr tweeted out racist comments about former President Barack Obama’s aide Valerie Jarrett.

In his first reactions to the show’s cancellation Trump was ‘not’ supportive of the decision to pull it off air and in fact he took a shot at the network’s CEO – Bob Iger. The President tweeted this on Wednesday: "Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that 'ABC does not tolerate comments like those' made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn't get the call?"

Trump’s decision to jump into the debate about Roseanne stems from the fact that the two are long-time supporters of each other. He had called her up when her show had seen record ratings when it aired in March this year. The sitcom was originally broadcast from 1988 to 1997.

Here’s what Roseanne had tweeted which has created this firestorm. In a now-deleted tweet from Tuesday, Barr wrote in reference to Valeria Jarrett: "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." ABC canceled the show within hours of the message.

Jarrett, one of the most prominent African American women in politics, was one of President Obama's top aides. That's partly why Barr attacked her. Barr frequently uses her Twitter account to deride Democrats.

The CNN analyses that there are additional political overtones to President Trump’s tweet against ABC Network because Disney’s CEO Bob Iger considered running against Trump in 2020. He reportedly deliberated about it with friends and financiers last year, but ultimately decided against a run. Iger and Jarrett are yet to respond to requests for comment about Trump's tweet.

White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders has doubled down on Trump’s tweet saying, “the president is highlighting the hypocrisy that exists in the news media as work done by him does not get highlighted while every decision as well as those calling him hateful names are given air time.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2018 01:14 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).