WASHINGTON (AP) − President Donald Trump can’t seem to bring himself to say “Hasta la vista, baby” to “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Twice in the past month, Trump, who once hosted the NBC reality TV show, has taken pot shots at the current host, actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, over a ratings nosedive.
Trump’s latest dig at his fellow Republican came as the president made his first appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast, an unusual forum for TV talk. But it just goes to show that when it comes to the program Trump helped create, it almost seems as if he wishes he could say “I’ll be back” instead.
“When I ran for president, I had to leave the show,” Trump told the more than 2,000 people attending the breakfast at a Washington hotel. “They hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place. And we know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes”
“It’s been a total disaster, and Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again,” the president said, referring to Mark Burnett, the show’s producer who hired Schwarzenegger after NBC severed ties with Trump in August 2015 following his comments about Mexican immigrants.
“I want to just pray for Arnold if we can,” Trump said.
Schwarzenegger responded quickly in a brief video on his verified Twitter account, suggesting that he and Trump switch jobs.
“You take over TV because you’re such an expert in ratings,” the “Terminator” star says in the video, captioned “The National Prayer Breakfast?” “And I take over your job and then people can finally sleep comfortably again. Hmm?”
Schwarzenegger’s audience for his early January debut as the show’s host was a disappointing 5 million viewers, according to the Nielsen company. Viewership dropped to 3.9 million viewers in the second week.
The season-to-date average for the first month was 4.7 million viewers, compared to 7.6 million viewers for Trump’s final season in winter 2015.
