President Donald Trump spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 2 and went off-script to remind the room full of lawmakers, religious leaders, and foreign dignitaries that he left the reality show The Apprentice in 2015 to show how serious he was about running for the presidency. But that's not all.
Trump also went on to take a jab at former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger over the low ratings of The Apprentice since the bodybuilder took over the show, and even asked all those present at the event to pray for the ratings to go up.
"They hired a big movie star to take my place and we know how that turned out ... The ratings went right down the tubes [...] I want to just pray for Arnold ... for those ratings," Trump said.
Sean Spicer, Trump's press secretary, was quick to say that the president's remarks about Schwarzenegger and the ratings of The Celebrity Apprentice were mere lighthearted jabs. But it's really hard to think of it that way. The chief executive seems to be too fixated on criticizing the actor and former governor since the celeb took over the reality show. The National Prayer Breakfast might also not be the appropriate venue to talk about the reality show.
Of course, Schwarzenegger is a fighter — if his action movies are any indication — so he responded to Trump's criticism with a jab of his own that is probably powerful enough for a knockout.
Schwarzenegger posted his response over Twitter, since the social media site seems to be one of Trump's favorite means of "communication." The actor-turned-politician tweeted a short video where he addressed "Donald" and shared his good idea. Take a look at the tweet below.
The National Prayer Breakfast? pic.twitter.com/KYUqEZbJIE
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 2, 2017
"Why don't we switch jobs? You take over TV, 'cause you're such an expert in ratings. And I take over your job, so that people can finally sleep comfortably again," Schwarzenegger said. We daresay his response was also a lighthearted jab at the president's remark, only that his jab could — literally — be more powerful because of his size. Then again, if President Trump's spontaneous remark was mere banter, perhaps Spicer could explain why he followed it up with another "lighthearted jab" on Twitter saying Schwarzenegger did a bad job when he was the governor of California and was even worse on The Apprentice.
Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger did a really bad job as Governor of California and even worse on the Apprentice...but at least he tried hard! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2017
Schwarzenegger did not even have to say anything in response to Trump's second criticism. He did retweet what Trump posted with a link to an article about all the tax records he released when he was in office.
https://t.co/Hi695MpscQ https://t.co/svBd3hpjPC
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 3, 2017
Perhaps the president could learn a lesson or two from the actor's essay in December 2016.
"[How] can I ever claim to be self-made? To accept that mantle discounts every person and every piece of advice that got me here. And it gives the wrong impression — that you can do it alone [...] The worst thing you can ever do is think that you know enough," Schwarzenegger wrote.
