President Donald Trump reportedly called Roseanne Barr personally on Wednesday to congratulate her on the successful return of her show "Roseanne," in which she plays a staunch Trump supporter.
The premiere of "Roseanne," which aired on ABC on Tuesday night, garnered 18.2 million viewers on average, with its highest ratings from states where Trump won the election.
Deadline reported that the show got its highest ratings from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Trump won 65.3 percent of the vote. Other cities that gained the top ratings include Cincinnati, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri and Chicago, the only city from a blue state that made it to the top 10.
On Thursday, Trump hailed the show's ratings during his speech on Ohio. The president revealed that he made a phone call to Barr after "The Apprentice" and "Son of God" producer Mark Burnett told him about the high viewership of the show's debut.
"Even look at Roseanne, I called her yesterday. Look at her ratings! Look at her ratings!" Trump said in his speech, as reported by the Daily Mail.
"I got a call from Mark Burnett, he did The Apprentice. He's a great guy. He said, 'Donald, I called just to say hello and to tell you did you see Roseanne's ratings?'" he continued. "They were unbelievable. Over 18 million people. And it was about us," the president exclaimed.
According to The New York Times, Trump called Barr on Wednesday to congratulate her and thank the actress for her continued support.
Barr, who is a supporter of Trump in real life, tweeted about the phone call, saying: "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!"
The actress explained in a recent interview with the New York Times that her character, Roseanne Conner, was turned into a Trump supporter because she wanted the show to start a discussion about families across the nation who were divided by the election and their political views.
"Roseanne" had been promoted heavily by ABC prior to the premiere. The marketing campaign for the show included a tie-in with NASCAR as well as a pop-up of the show's sets at SXSW earlier this month.
Barr had also drawn controversy while promoting the show, flipping off late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel when he mentioned Barr's old social media post, in which she referred to Hillary Clinton as a "murderer."
When the host pressed Barr about her support for Trump, she replied: "A lot of us, no matter who we voted for, we don't want to see our president fail." The actress proceeded to berate Kimmel by asking him to stay quiet about Trump if he didn't want Vice President Mike Pence to become president.
