Donald Trump Savages Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Ratings, Blames Clinton Endorsement For Slide

Donald Trump who, in addition to being the next president of the United States, remains executive producer of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, this morning gleefully savaged the show’s latest season launch stats. This is believed to mark the first time a TV series EP has taken to Twitter to celebrate his show’s lousy numbers, but many things Trump does these days are “firsts”:

Bet all those politicians who warned Trump’s continued connection to the TV series would constitute a conflict of interest feel pretty foolish now. They have warned Trump would use his considerable influence as POTUS to promote his various businesses. Trump has shown them: this morning using his influence to run down this business interest!

Celebrity Apprentice got off to a rocky start with new host Schwarzenegger. The reality series’ eighth season starter — and first without original star Trump — logged a 1.3 rating in adults 18-49 and 4.9 million viewers. That is down 46% from the most recent Season 7 debut two years ago, and ties an all-time Live+Same Day low for the celebrity version of the business-themed reality series executive produced by the President-elect.

The tweets, coming at the expense of the show on which – it’s worth repeating – Trump remains executive producer, appear to be intended to ding two-term California Gov. Schwarzenegger, who was named host when Trump bowed out to run for the White House. The body builder turned Hollywood celebrity is a Republican and, during the election cycle, first endorsed Ohio Gov/White House hopeful John Kasich, then had the temerity to announce he would not vote for GOP presidential candidate Trump in the wake of that ’05 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump is heard boasting about being so famous he can grope women with impunity.

Trump took the time to publicly critique the NBC series’ performance after urging Americans to show up for his inauguration to which most celebrities appear intended to give a pass:

And, after blasting Celebrity Apprentice’s performance, our next president moved on to weightier matters: celebrity editor Anna Wintour having come to his office to ask him to meet with Conde Nast editors which, Trump advises, he would do this morning. It has been reported they will be joined by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, the man who famously called him a “short-fingered vulgarian” in the late 80’s and, hopefully these two titans will thrash out their differences over Trump’s digits:

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