Trump Tweets about the new Apprentice…
I saw these on FB and they were so bizarrely petty that I thought they were fake. But, in fact, I found them on his Twitter feed:
Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got “swamped” (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017
being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017
Ok, so you have been elected President of the United States of America. Not only is this a singular accomplishment that should make whatever ratings you earned on a reality show pale in comparison, you also have a heck of a lot of work to do. And yet: you go on Twitter to gloat about low ratings for the new guy? (Not to mention: you are executive producer on the show, so should want high ratings for it).
The self-absorption, pettiness, and misplaced priorities here are amazing to behold. (And more than a little concerning).
Update (Doug Mataconis): In addition to the self-absorption that Steven notes, Trump’s tweets this morning also continue to repeat one of the most boastful lies that Trump tells regarding his tenure as host of The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice. Except for the first three seasons, when it ended the season ranked 7th, 11th, and 15th respectively, the original version of The Apprentice never again appeared in the Top 25 shows as ranked by Nielsen and, in its final season in 2010, actually ranked near the bottom of the pack at 113th. (Source) Celebrity Apprentice, meanwhile, never ranked higher than 46th. (Source) Trump’s contention that he was a “ratings machine” and that his show was a “huge hit” was, for the most part, a lie.
This may all seem like something only worth gawking at, but how long do you think it’ll be before he launches one of his dick-measuring tweetstorms against Kim Jong Un?
My God, people are morons.
What you and I see as “self-absorption, pettiness, and misplaced priorities” his fans see as indicators of his great strength. Trump doesn’t take anything lying down!!! He goes after his enemies and vanquishes them!!!
Oh, and that business about Celebrity Apprentice being only 46 in the ratings? That’s “fake news” produced by the lying enemedia.
… and he hasn’t even been inaugurated yet.
He’s even worse than I thought he’d be, and my expectations were damned low to begin with.
@Kylopod:
Li’l Don and Li’l Kim are a matched pair, aren’t they? Both desperately insecure cases of severely arrested development, suffering from delusions of grandeur, psychotic vengefulness, unbridled narcissism…what pathology have I neglected to mention?
@CSK:
…with nuclear weapons at their helm.
Who would have thought Dr. Strangelove wasn’t black comedy but prophecy?
@Kylopod:
Yeah, I keep thinking that.
And they both have fugly hairdos.
As I’ve said many times, Trump is a classless pig and always will be.
I blame the executive producer.
What really bugs me about this — and about his complaints about the intelligence agencies — is that Schwarzenegger is his employee. Trump is still an EP and owner of the show, and he’s trashing the guy who works for him in public.
And it is the same, although on a far more serious scale, with the people who work in intelligence. Yes, if you’re a celebtrity buffoon who likes to yap about politics, then it’s perfectly appropriate to do this on Twitter. But he is their boss. Which means first, if he has a serious problem, he can take it up with the people responsible. And second, he’s publicly trashing the people who are being paid to help him do his job.
What is wrong with this man?
@wr:
How much time have you got?
Swartzennegger responded & stated that he wished Trump well…
He may as well said “bless his heart”… or an even more to th point “Bye Felicia”.
What a maroon.
Cant admit that Russia had any involvement… Denies the CIA & FBI and NSA… Wants everyone to move on…. But wants detailed investigations that NBC received some of the briefing before he did.
Seriously. Does this guy have a dildo for a brain?
Today, one of the other news outlets stated that Trump told the FEC that he had a debt of $350 mil (to ten lenders) before going into the election… but they are beginning to see that it is more like a total of 1.5 BILLION of debt.
wow.
I’ve been saying it since Trump started knocking off the competition in the primaries: he IS the modern Republican Party. Oh sure, he has no filter so it is all right there and obvious, but just add it up. Disbelieves reality if it conflicts with what he wants to believe? Check. Attacks those that tell him otherwise with over the type lies and slander? Check. Talks endlessly about how he alone knows the answers to the economy/business deal but it turns out to be a scam which fleeces the little guy? Check. I could go on. We all could.
Only peripherally on topic, Trump’s people have ordered all political appointee ambassadors out by inauguration day It’s been normal to allow extensions for personal reasons like kids finishing out a school term. The Trump people are saying no exceptions. Of course replacement appointees are far from lined up. This is on topic only to the extent that it’s another petty and pointless action,
When I was in university, we had a saying, “he’s so small that when he stands next to an ant, he needs to put up an umbrella.”
Seriously. You need to ask?
@wr: @michael reynolds: Everything.
He’s not even president yet and I’m already sick of reading about the stupid shit Donald Trump posts on Twitter. How about we make a pact with ourselves?
Let’s ignore what Trump says on Twitter….like….just pretend it doesn’t exist or it doesn’t matter.
Don’t worry, you can do this. A Tweet is not a legal instrument.
@James Pearce: I think they provide useful, albeit disturbing, insights.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Insights I’ll grant, though I’m not sure how useful they are. I think it would be a mistake to take them at face value, to think they provide a window into Trump’s mind.
Trump’s Tweets seem like uncontrolled impulses, and so they provide some -not much- insight into that dimension of his personality.
But they’re also a performance of a sort –“artifice” is the word that keeps coming to mind– and how are we to know whether we are getting insights into the man or the character?
Big news this morning: Trump “fires back” at Meryl Streep by tweeting mean things at her.
This is the dynamic: Trump tweets something stupid. It becomes the big news story. We all respond to it, even if just emotionally in our heads.
Donald Trump is a troll. Don’t feed the troll.
@James Pearce: well, it is essentially impossible to ignore him, so that’s not much of a strategy.
And, really, discussing him is more about influencing his followers and those sympathetic to him, not so much an attempt to influence him.
I would love to pretend he doesn’t exist, but that is simply denial.
@Steven L. Taylor:
I’m not saying ignore Trump. I’m saying ignore his Tweets.
His followers want nothing more than to debate whether Meryl Streep is a talented actor or just a Hillary stooge who should shut up. They don’t want, on the other hand, to confront Russian hackers, or to defend the nepotism of naming Kushner as Trump’s senior adviser, or to argue the merits of Jeff Sessions as AG.
Why should we play their game?
@James Pearce: Well, a few thoughts:
1) I didn’t bring up the Streep tweets, you did. 😉
2) I don’t think you can utterly ignore the tweets, given the way he is using the medium.
3) I am not talking about persuading hard core supporters, but rather his soft support, who are in denial at the moment regarding what they vote for.
@Steven L. Taylor:
I did, because it’s on CNN right now. They have two talking heads debating…well, I’m not sure what they’re debating. It’s just sad that they’re debating it.
Houdini would argue that, yes, you should ignore the matted cheesecloth “ectoplasm” regurgitated by the sham medium and focus, instead, on the trick mechanism being used to lift the table.
(Or is that analogy too esoteric and metaphorical to convey my point? Which in a nutshell is this: Don’t allow your attention to be misdirected.)
Well, consider this: Trump’s “soft support” is already ignoring his Tweets.
The rest of are just getting yanked around.
@James Pearce: I cannot be held responsible for what cable news is discussing: which is the cheapest and easiest thing available to them at a given moment.
@Steven L. Taylor:
I’m merely addressing you and to make this clear, I should have probably said “Don’t allow one‘s attention to be misdirected.”
It’s not an accusation leveled in your direction….
On this we agree, which is why I think it’s folly to focus on Trump’s bizarre tweets. Let’s be diligent and effective, not cheap and easy.