My mother watched Everybody Loves Raymond when I was growing up, so I was familiar with the show even if I didn’t follow it as closely as Sabrina the Teenage Witch (which I thought was the epitome of cool as a pre-tween), or later Will & Grace. My broad impression was that the character of Ray’s wife always felt like the wet blanket, which I chalked up to a decision of the writers/producers. Patricia Heaton played the part and, quite frankly, the older I get the more I think she was damn lucky to book that job. Heaton doesn’t seem to be a wet blanket in real life, more like an electric blanket with the wires showing. Heaton is also staunchly Republican, and though she tried to be vague about whether she supported Trump in the first term, on Sunday she posted a tweet in response to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting that pretty much settles the question:
Actress Patricia Heaton shared an impactful message in the aftermath of the shooting at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
“I wasn’t happy when [Bill] Clinton, [Barack] Obama or [Joe] Biden won, but I didn’t call them fascist/dangerous/threat to democracy,” Heaton, 68, wrote via X on Sunday, April 26, seemingly referring to the critics of President Donald Trump and his second term in office. “I didn’t hope someone would assassinate them.”
She continued, “I went on with my life with gratitude. Friends on the left, please try this. Your life and our country will be better.”
Trump, 79, attended the annual WHCA dinner on Saturday, April 25, for the first time. Shortly after the event, meant to celebrate freedom of the press, began, shots ran out outside the ballroom. The president, Vice President JD Vance, first lady Melania Trump and other members of the Trump administration were subsequently evacuated from the venue. A secret service member was shot during the incident, but his ballistic vest protected him. He was taken to a local hospital where he was subsequently released and reportedly sent home.
No one else was harmed during the shooting.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” Donald wrote via his Truth Social platform later that evening. “The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement.”
I wasn’t happy when [Patricia] Heaton barraged a Georgetown student with misogynistic tweets as the young woman was testifying before Congress on the importance of healthcare. I wasn’t happy when [David] Hunt, Patricia’s husband, groped a writer half his age on the sitcom he and his wife both worked on, and instead of agreeing to sexual harassment training, made the job so untenable for the writer that she quit (as did another writer in solidarity). I wasn’t happy when Heaton completely lost the plot and ranted that Disney/Pixar had “castrated!” Buzz Lightyear by hiring Chris Evans instead of her good pal Tim Allen to voice Buzz in a completely separate origin story film, even after it was explained to her that the new movie was about a totally different character. But I didn’t go around calling her woman-hating/talentless/threat to acting. I didn’t say I wished someone would blacklist her and her husband from the industry. I went on with my life with gratitude that I was under no obligation to watch any of her shows or social media rants, but that I was free to read books, pay attention to history and politics, and then form educated opinions about what’s making the world better vs what’s making it an utter sh-tshow. Friends on the right, please try this. My life and our country will be better.
PS — Sorry to include a quote from Dementia Don, but “LET THE SHOW GO ON” did me in. F–king moron couldn’t even get a hundreds-year-old saying right.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, mpi099/MediaPunch/INSTARimages, Getty Images