Trump brags in new book he caused MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell to cry on air
Donald Trump got caught up in a story alleging he caused MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell to cry on air.
In the new book "Apprentice in Wonderland," author and co-editor at Variety, Ramin Setoodeh, recalled a bizarre story from one of his six interviews with the former president, an excerpt published in Vanity Fair said.
After bragging that he made about $500 million in product placement on his NBC show, Trump recalled an on-air and online debate between MSNBC's "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough and "The Last Word" host, O'Donnell.
Trump had just announced he was running in the 2016 election, and O'Donnell disputed the "fortune" Trump claimed he made in profits from the 14-season show.
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“It’s a lie, Joe,” O’Donnell said. “It’s a complete, total lie.”
“Lawrence O’Donnell was always an enemy, because he’s a sick human being,” Trump told Setoodeh. “He was on Joe Scarborough saying I made no money on "The Apprentice!" Joe said, ‘That can’t be possible, because the show is so successful.’ This was when Joe Scarborough would do anything for me.”
That's when Trump splits the story from reality into his own fanfiction, the book claims.
“And O’Donnell got on his show, and NBC made him apologize and he was crying,” Trump claimed. “He actually broke down, and he was crying. It was one of the great moments, because he was such a p---k!”
Setoodeh wrote in the book that there was no truth to the story.
"While Trump’s summary of the argument between the hosts is accurate, O’Donnell never backed down, nor did he cry on air. Through a representative, the network declined to comment," he wrote.
The interviews for the book took place between May 2021 and Nov. 2023. Yet Trump's hate of O'Donnell continues to this day. On May 8, Trump posted a late-night rant on Truth Social after seeing O'Donnell in court that day.
"I haven’t seen him in years. He looks like s--t, a real loser!"
O'Donnell was in court for most of the proceedings, and observers revealed Trump was "muttering" when he spotted O'Donnell in the crowd.
“It seems Donald Trump wasn’t really pleased to see me,” he told his viewers later that evening.