Coming off his State of the Union speech and buoyed by Republican applause, Donald Trump used social media on Wednesday to lash out at several high-profile critics, singling out Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Robert De Niro and Rosie O’Donnell with a stream of insults.
“When you watch Low IQ Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, as they screamed uncontrollably last night at the very elegant State of the Union, such an important and beautiful event, they had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalized,” began Trump in a lengthy Truth Social post which in itself used hateful and ableist language.
“When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible. They can only damage the United States of America, they can do nothing to help it.”
The attack on Omar and Tlaib followed their protest during the annual address, where they repeatedly interrupted Trump while challenging statements he made about immigration. During the disruption, they also accused him directly with the words: ‘You have killed Americans’, referencing the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Instead of acknowledging the protest or softening his tone, Trump escalated the rhetoric, suggesting both lawmakers should be deported and pushed out of office.
Omar and Tlaib weren’t the only targets in the post. Trump also went after Robert De Niro and Rosie O’Donnell, after De Niro urged people to ‘resist’ and condemn what he described as divisive leadership. The actor became emotional on a podcast, stressing the need ‘to lift everybody up’ by pushing back against discrimination.
Trump responded by branding the Taxi Driver star ‘Extremely low IQ’ and ‘demented’.
Continuing in his speech with reference to Omar and Tlaib, Trump went on to say: “They should actually get on a boat with Trump Deranged Robert De Niro, another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ, who has absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying — some of which is seriously CRIMINAL!
“When I watched him break down in tears last night, much like a child would do, I realized that he may be even sicker than Crazy Rosie O’Donnell, who is right now in Ireland trying to figure out how to come back into our beautiful United States.
“The only difference between De Niro and Rosie is that she is probably somewhat smarter than him, which isn’t saying much. The good news is that America is now Bigger, Better, Richer, and Stronger than ever before, and it’s driving them absolutely crazy!”
While the language in the post drew attention for its intensity, it fits a broader pattern of Trump repeatedly trading barbs with these figures over the years.
Back in 2018 at the Tony Awards, De Niro publicly declared ‘F*** Trump’, drawing a standing ovation.
Trump later addressed De Niro on social media, calling him ‘a very Low IQ individual’, and adding: “I watched him… and truly believe he may be ‘punch-drunk.”
In 2024, Trump again attacked De Niro as ‘wacko’ after the actor appeared outside a Manhattan courthouse in support of former President Joe Biden’s campaign during Trump’s hush money case, which ended in convictions on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
On Truth Social, he wrote about De Niro: “I never knew how small, both mentally and physically, Wacko Former Actor Robert De Niro was.
“Today, De Niro, who suffers from an incurable case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, commonly known in the medical community as TDS, was met, outside the Courthouse, with a force far greater than the Radical Left – MAGA.”
Trump’s clashes with Omar and Tlaib also date back years. In 2019, he drew widespread condemnation after tweeting that Omar and other members of “The Squad” should “go back” to the “broken and crime-infested places from which they came,”
That same year, shortly after taking office, Tlaib added to the animosity by vowing to “impeach the m—-f—er,” a remark that helped define the combative relationship that followed.