**DISCLAIMER: This article was first published in January of 2024**
Ed OโNeill has played a variety of different, beloved characters throughout his successful acting career โ ranging from Modern Familyโs Jay Pritchett who lovingly supports his gay son and is married to a Columbian immigrant to the former high school football star turned suburban shoe salesman, Al Bundy, who definitely peaked in high school and wouldโve voted for Donald Trumpโฆ Twice in the show Marriedโฆ With Children.
But when it comes to real life, Ed OโNeill leaves nothing up to interpretation with regard to his feelings on Donald J. Trump, the MAGA movement, the 2020 election, and those who choose to support the whole mess.
Suffice it to say, the sitcom actor is firmly on โourโ side.
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OโNeill has been known to fiercely campaign for Barack Obama in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, and even spoke at the virtual 2020 Ohio Democratic Party Convention in support of now-President Joe Biden. Ed OโNeill knows where he stands and heโs not afraid to say it.
The popular sitcom actor made this clear as crystal when he learned that his almost alma mater, Youngstown State University, had dolled out a โslap in the face,โ when their Board of Trustees recently appointed the election-denying, MAGA-loving, Trump-supporting Republican House Rep. Bill Johnson as the esteemed universityโs new president.
OโNeill actually attended Youngstown State in his former years, before dropping out of the university for what ended up being a very short-lived career on the Pittsburg Steelers in 1969. OโNeill was cut during training camp and went on to pursue his now-successful acting career in lieu of returning to the university.
However, Youngstown State always held a special place in his heart and he was truly honored to receive an honorary doctorate from the university in 2013.
Until now, anywayโฆ
Following the appointment of Rep. Johnson as the schoolโs new president, OโNeill said heโs giving his honorary degree back, as he cannot stand in support of a person who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and just recently endorsed Donald J. Trump for a second White House term.
Speaking with MSNBC host Lawrence OโDonnell on a recent episode of The Last Word with Lawrence OโDonnell, the sitcom actor explained his decision to return the honorary degree:
I was so disappointed when I heard about this decision. I frankly couldnโt believe it. โฆ. Weโre going with this guy who has no prior experience in higher education.โ
Heโs an election denier and heโs not the biggest fan of the gay community. Heโs anti-choice. Heโs just a polarizing far-right-wing fanatical guy. โฆ The faculty, the students, the alumniโthey donโt want somebody like this.
I was very proud of [the honorary degree], but I canโt keep it. It doesnโt mean anything to me now. That the university would do a thing like this, itโs a slap in the face to all of us. โฆ Iโm giving it back. I just have to find the right way to do it. I want everybody to know Iโm doing it.โ
Rep. Johnson is slated to take control as president of Youngstown State University, which boasts upwards of 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students, in early March of this year.
Watch Ed OโNeillโs MSNBC appearance here:
Featured image via screen capture
