Donald Trump is giving his replacement host on The New Celebrity Apprentice, Arnold Schwarzenegger, a piece of his mind.
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The President-elect took a shot at Schwarzenegger via Twitter on Friday morning over the ratings of The New Celebrity Apprentice's two-hour debut episode, which aired Monday night on NBC.
"Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got 'swamped' (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT," Trump tweeted.
"DJT" are the initials of Trump's full name, so he's giving himself a pat on the back. Trump had served as the host of 14 seasons of The Apprentice, including seven celebrity editions.
"So much for....being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14," Trump continued, referencing Schwarzenegger's iconic film roles, such as The Terminator. "Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported [John Kasich] & [Hillary Clinton]."
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The New Celebrity Apprentice premiered with 4.93 million viewers, which is down more than 43% from The Celebrity Apprentice's last season premiere in 2015; however, the series had big competition considering ESPN's Rose Bowl ran over an hour late and the new season of The Bachelor aired on ABC simultaneously.
Schwarzenegger responded to Trump's remarks with a dig of his own, writing, "There's nothing more important than the people's work. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you'll work for ALL of the American people as aggressively as you worked for your ratings."
Schwarzenegger also added an inspirational quote from President Lincoln's inaugural in which he said, "We are not enemies. We are all Americans."
Trump's decision to slam The New Celebrity Apprentice's ratings is surprising since he still retains an executive producer credit and ownership interest in the series and its ratings had been declining with every passing season in recent years.
However, the President-elect recently clarified the extent of his participation in the current season.
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"I have NOTHING to do with The Apprentice except for fact that I conceived it with Mark B & have a big stake in it. Will devote ZERO TIME!" Trump previously tweeted.
"Reports by @CNN that I will be working on The Apprentice during my Presidency, even part time, are ridiculous & untrue - FAKE NEWS!"
Schwarzenegger embraced his new role as host and made it his own. Instead of barking, "You're fired," at Celebrity Apprentice contestants in the boardroom, he changed his catch phrases to, "You're terminated," and, "Get to the chopper," which better represent his career.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski