Even though Donald Trump rose to become the President of the United States, actor Arnold Schwarzenneger, who only served as governor of California, claims that the president secretly wants to be him, which would explain the feud brewing between them over the years.
Speaking with Men’s Health for October’s magazine issue, the 72-year-old star of “Terminator: Dark Fate” said that the president is “in love” with him.
“That’s the reality of it,” Schwarzenegger said. “With Trump, he wants to be me. I don’t think he fears me. But I remember that in the old days, when we went to the wrestling matches, the way he admired people with bodies, and the way they would jump around in the ring, and to perform physical stunts and stuff like that — he had great admiration for that.”
As noted by Fox News, the feud between Trump and Schwarzenegger developed shortly after the 2016 election when the action star was tapped to head “The Apprentice” in the real-estate mogul’s absence. As the show’s ratings quickly dwindled, Trump made sure to put the blame on Schwarzenegger.
“Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show,” Trump wrote on Twitter at the time.
Schwarzenegger did not take the insults lying down and immediately shot back with a troll video of his own when President Trump’s approval ratings dipped into the thirties in 2017.
“Oh, Donald, the ratings are in, and you got swamped. Wow. Now you’re in the thirties?” said Schwarzenegger at the time. “But what do you expect? I mean when you take away after school programs for children and meals on wheels for the poor people, that’s not what you call ‘making America great again.’ Come on! I mean, who is advising you?” He continued, “Let me give you some advice: go to a middle school — the Hart Middle School, right in Washington, six miles away from the White House. I’ll take you there, so you can see the fantastic work that they’re doing for these children. Let’s do it, huh?”
Schwarzenegger even went as far to blame Trump for the show’s failure during an interview with Variety Magazine in 2017.
“I loved every second of working with NBC and Mark Burnett. Everyone — from the celebrities to the crew to the marketing department — was a straight 10, and I would absolutely work with all of them again on a show that doesn’t have this baggage,” he said. “With Trump being involved in the show, people have a bad taste and don’t want to participate as a spectator or as a sponsor or in any other way support the show. It’s a very divisive period now and I think this show got caught up in all that division.”
Critics at the time, however, noted that the absence of Donald Trump left a serious void in the show. Mike Hale of The New York Times, for instance, said the show lacked an “old bite.”
“With Mr. Schwarzenegger, there’s no joy, just a — you’ll pardon the word — robotic professionalism,” wrote Hale. “His rebukes don’t have enough bite, his stares don’t have enough menace. His one noticeable zinger, ‘You guys are ducking more questions than Congress,’ sounded scripted.”