{"id":1206,"date":"2024-11-11T17:29:30","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T17:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/why-trumps-furious-condemnation-of-the-apprentice-film-matters\/"},"modified":"2024-11-11T17:29:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T17:29:30","slug":"why-trumps-furious-condemnation-of-the-apprentice-film-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/why-trumps-furious-condemnation-of-the-apprentice-film-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Trump\u2019s furious condemnation of \u2018The Apprentice\u2019 film matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-testid=\"byline-container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/author\/steve-benen-ncpn433601\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2021_37\/3505460\/steve-benen-msnbc_1.png\" alt height=\"48\" width=\"48\"><\/source><\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class>It&rsquo;s unlikely that Donald Trump has seen &ldquo;The Apprentice,&rdquo; a movie that chronicles his early rise, but he evidently doesn&rsquo;t care for it. <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/in-the-know\/4931906-trump-slams-apprentice-film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hill reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<section>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Former President Trump is slamming &ldquo;The Apprentice,&rdquo; calling the film about his early rise in New York &ldquo;fake and classless.&rdquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, put out right before the 2024 Presidential Election, to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country,&rdquo; Trump wrote in an early morning Truth Social post on Monday.<\/p>\n<p><small><span><\/span><\/small><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/section>\n<p class>The <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/113303964855794908\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">150-word missive<\/a>published shortly before 1 a.m. ET, covered some predictable ground, including the Republican expressing hope that the film will &ldquo;bomb.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class>But there was one sentence in the online piece that stood out for me: &ldquo;So sad that HUMAN SCUM, like the people involved in this hopefully unsuccessful enterprise, are allowed to say and do whatever they want.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class>It&rsquo;s not surprising that Trump would whine incessantly about a movie he almost certainly hasn&rsquo;t seen, but note the phrasing in his message: The GOP candidate lamented the fact that these filmmakers are &ldquo;allowed&rdquo; to say &ldquo;whatever they want.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class>It&rsquo;s as if some people believe it&rsquo;s a free country with a First Amendment. What nerve.<\/p>\n<p class>The line came almost seven years to the day after Trump declared during an Oval Office event that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/trump-its-disgusting-press-can-write-whatever-it-wants-msna1028196\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he considered it &ldquo;disgusting&rdquo;<\/a> that the nation&rsquo;s free press can &ldquo;write whatever it wants.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class>In recent days, of course, the former president hasn&rsquo;t just lashed out at those responsible for &ldquo;The Apprentice&rdquo; movie. He also has launched a bizarre campaign against CBS and &ldquo;60 Minutes,&rdquo; accusing the outlet and the news program of a &ldquo;scandal&rdquo; that does not exist.<\/p>\n<p class>Trump has nevertheless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trumps-latest-media-threats-add-authoritarian-style-agenda-rcna174703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repeatedly called for<\/a> CBS to lose its broadcast license &mdash; an appeal that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/fcc-chair-intervenes-trump-threatens-free-press-rcna175027\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">doesn&rsquo;t actually make sense<\/a> &mdash; a point he seemed especially <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Acyn\/status\/1844835129132515822\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">excited about<\/a> over <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/atrupar\/status\/1844835021338575233\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the weekend<\/a>. On Friday night, for example, the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Acyn\/status\/1844915098323726352\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republican said<\/a> &ldquo;60 Minutes&rdquo; should be &ldquo;taken off the air,&rdquo; and a day later, he suggested during a Newsmax interview that the government should somehow <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/atrupar\/status\/1845246570758885655\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pull CBS from the airwaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class>And did I mention that Trump said in reference to The New York Times: &ldquo;Wait until you see what I&rsquo;m going to do with them&rdquo;? Because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/ben-shapiro\/donald-trump-threatens-new-york-times-wait-until-you-see-what-im-going-do-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">that happened last week<\/a>too.<\/p>\n<p class>So let&rsquo;s circle back to our earlier coverage and take stock. The Republican nominee for the nation&rsquo;s highest office is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-pushes-unsettling-new-threats-targets-election-officials-rcna170209\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">threatening perceived foes with prison sentences<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/eyeing-orban-trump-endorses-strongman-leadership-style-rcna169807\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">endorsing a &ldquo;strongman&rdquo; leadership style<\/a>bragging about <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/atrupar\/status\/1831738254195818712\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his support from dictators<\/a>raising the prospect of a temporary American &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-avoid-relitigating-infamous-dictator-comments-rcna168798\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dictatorship<\/a>,&rdquo; and talking about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/fire-trump-denies-writing-wrote-constitution-rcna60282\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&ldquo;terminating&rdquo; parts of the Constitution<\/a> that stand in the way of his ambitions.<\/p>\n<p class>Trump is also arguing that his rivals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-says-harris-shouldnt-allowed-run-recycling-weird-claim-rcna163593\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shouldn&rsquo;t be &ldquo;allowed&rdquo; to run against him<\/a>targeting immigrants <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/accused-echoing-hitler-trump-offers-wrong-response-rcna130567\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">with Hitler-style rhetoric<\/a> while promising to create <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/team-trump-eyes-militarized-deportations-detention-camps-second-term-rcna139957\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">militarized mass deportations and detention camps<\/a>speaking with greater frequency about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/legal-immigrants-reason-fear-trumps-deportation-plans-rcna174672\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deporting people who entered the United States legally<\/a>promising <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trumps-new-commitment-pardons-jan-6-rioters-matters-rcna164670\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pardons to politically aligned criminals<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-amplifies-radical-retaliatory-message-targeting-liz-cheney-rcna159915\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">raising the specter of military tribunals<\/a> for his perceived domestic political foes, and talking about expanding the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-suggests-using-military-address-enemy-rcna175255\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">use of the U.S. military on American soil<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class>But specifically when it comes to the First Amendment, Trump recently insisted that those who criticize judges and Supreme Court justices that he likes &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-suggests-criticizing-judges-illegal-record-rcna172633\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">should be put in jail<\/a>,&rdquo; pushed for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trumps-latest-media-threats-add-authoritarian-style-agenda-rcna174703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS to be pulled<\/a> from the nation&rsquo;s airwaves, made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/ben-shapiro\/donald-trump-threatens-new-york-times-wait-until-you-see-what-im-going-do-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">veiled threats<\/a> against the nation&rsquo;s largest newspaper, and asserted in writing that it&rsquo;s awful to see filmmakers being &ldquo;allowed&rdquo; to say &ldquo;whatever they want.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class>It&rsquo;s almost as if the former president were running on an authoritarian-style platform.<\/p>\n<p class>In early 2017, the then-president delivered a speech in which he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Fca5_Jw4BB4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">boasted<\/a>&ldquo;I love the First Amendment. Nobody loves it better than me. Nobody.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class>It was ridiculous at the time. It&rsquo;s vastly worse now.<\/p>\n<p><em>This post updates our <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trumps-latest-media-threats-add-authoritarian-style-agenda-rcna174703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>related earlier coverage<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-activity-map=\"expanded-byline-article-bottom\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-thumbnail\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/author\/steve-benen-ncpn433601\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2021_37\/3505460\/steve-benen-msnbc_1.png\" alt height=\"48\" width=\"48\"><\/source><\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span data-testid=\"byline-name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/author\/steve-benen-ncpn433601\">Steve Benen<\/a><\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveBenen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Steve Benen is a producer for &#8220;The Rachel Maddow Show,&#8221; the editor of&nbsp;MaddowBlog&nbsp;and an BLN political contributor. He&#8217;s also the bestselling author of &#8220;Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans&#8217; War on the Recent Past.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trumps-furious-condemnation-apprentice-film-matters-rcna175283\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&rsquo;s unlikely that Donald Trump has seen &ldquo;The Apprentice,&rdquo; a movie that chronicles his early rise, but he evidently doesn&rsquo;t care for it. Blue Light News reported: Former President Trump is slamming &ldquo;The Apprentice,&rdquo; calling the film about his early rise in New York &ldquo;fake and classless.&rdquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-trump"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}