【[Ep4] Secret Campus】

Roseanne Conner,[Ep4] Secret Campus of Roseanne, is a Donald Trump supporter. But that wasn't always the case.

Co-executive producer Bruce Rasmussen, also a writer on the original series, revealed recently that TV Roseanne (not to be confused with IRL Roseanne Barr) started out as more of a lefty. It was Barr herself who pushed for her TV character to break for Trump.

"Originally I thought, like everybody else, that she would not be a supporter of Trump," Rasmussen told EW. "But the moment we got in the writers’ room with Roseanne, she really wanted to be a supporter of Trump, not because she is one herself, but there are a lot of people in the Midwest who voted for him."

Barr's pitch prompted lengthy discussions in the writer's room, which Rasmussen admits is largely driven by left-leaning minds. But both he and writer Dave Kaplan understood that there were people in 2016 who voted for Trump without subscribing to all of his toxic views.

"[We] understood that there are people who voted for him who aren’t misogynists or racists and who felt betrayed by other administrations," Rasmussen said. "They really believed Trump was going to do something for them."

The tricky part was getting the rest of the writer's room on the same page. Imagine this group of liberal-leaning writers trying to crack the story for a new Roseanneseries while Trump was busy tearing the U.S.A.'s reputation to tatters. It's not so easy to put yourself in the mindset of a Trump voter when you're fearing for the future of your country and your children on a daily basis.

"We had to keep reminding people that this is not how we feel. It’s how the Conners as real people would react to what they perceive as somebody who might help them out," Rasmussen said.

"We are all pretty liberal people so you have to step back and say, let’s not be mouthpieces for what we believe. Let’s deal with who these characters are as people, whether we agree with who she voted for or not."

Barr herself echoed this sentiment at a press conference held before the show aired, a snippet of which could be heard on a recent episode of NPR's Morning Edition.

"You know, the Roseanneshow, I've always tried to have it be a true reflection of the society we live in," Barr said. "I feel like half the people voted for Trump and half didn't. So it's just realistic."

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