'Nasty guy': Apprentice contestant says Trump is desperately trying to pivot to seem nicer

A former contestant of Donald Trump's old show, "The Apprentice," is noticing a pivot from the ex-president as he struggles to garner attention from the media and voters.

MSNBC played a clip of Trump being asked about former President Barack Obama, who gave the keynote speech on Tuesday at the Democratic Convention.

"I like him," Trump claimed about the man he spent years claiming wasn't actually an American citizen.

"I think he's a nice gentleman, but he was very weak on trade," said Trump, pivoting to talk about issues. "If you look at what happened to our country trade-wise, it was a disaster. But I happen to like him. I respect him."

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Tara Dowdell, from the third season of "The Apprentice," said that this is the perfect example of Trump "trying to soften."

"He's trying to pivot a little bit because he's a nasty guy that says nasty things," she explained. "Let's just be frank. So, I think he's seen the momentum that this positive campaign is gaining. For the first time, Trump isn't in the news all the time. The vice president is on the news all the time. She has the momentum."

Dowdell said that it doesn't necessarily mean Vice President Kamala Harris will win, "it means this is going to be a tough fight, but she has the momentum in this moment."

"I think he's trying to — he's struggling with messaging," Dowdell continued. "He's trying to figure out what the right tone is, how to approach things, but he knows what he's doing now is not getting him what he values the most. And that's media attention."

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