Schwarzenegger: I Want To 'Smash' Trump's Face Into A Table
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger says he wants to "smash" President Donald Trump's face into a table.
The former governor and new "Celebrity Apprentice" host has recently gotten into a war of words with Trump after the president slammed Schwarzenegger over the show's ratings.
In an interview with Men's Journal, Schwarzenegger said he volunteered to take Trump's place on the show.
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"I'd never done a reality-TV show and thought it would be interesting," he told Men's Journal. "When Trump started running for office, I said to myself, 'Obviously he can't do both.'"
During the presidential campaign, Schwarzenegger said he would not be voting for Trump. Following the show's season premiere, Trump tweeted that the movie star got "destroyed" in the ratings.
"I said, 'Let's sit on it for an hour,' " Schwarzenegger said. "I called my assistant and said, 'I think what we really should do is request a meeting and go back to New York.' And then we just smash his face into the table."
Trump's latest dig at his fellow Republican came as the president made his first appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast, an unusual forum for TV talk. But it just goes to show that when it comes to the program Trump helped create, it almost seems as if he wishes he could say "I'll be back" instead.
"When I ran for president, I had to leave the show," Trump told the more than 2,000 people attending the breakfast at a Washington hotel. "They hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place. And we know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes."
"It's been a total disaster, and Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again," the president said, referring to Mark Burnett, the show's producer who hired Schwarzenegger after NBC severed ties with Trump in August 2015 following his comments about Mexican immigrants.
"I want to just pray for Arnold if we can," Trump said.
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Schwarzenegger responded quickly in a brief video on his verified Twitter account, suggesting that he and Trump switch jobs.
The National Prayer Breakfast? pic.twitter.com/KYUqEZbJIE
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 2, 2017
"You take over TV because you're such an expert in ratings," the "Terminator" star says in the video, captioned "The National Prayer Breakfast?" ''And I take over your job and then people can finally sleep comfortably again. Hmm?"
Schwarzenegger's audience for his early January debut as the show's host was a disappointing 5 million viewers, according to the Nielsen company. Viewership dropped to 3.9 million viewers in the second week.
The season-to-date average for the first month was 4.7 million viewers, compared to 7.6 million viewers for Trump's final season in winter 2015.
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