Trump's reality TV origin story on The Apprentice

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In this first installment of the series "Bad Actors on the Right," join me, Maggie Mae Fish, as we go back in time and see that Donald Trump hasn't changed at all from reality TV host to ex-President.
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The Apprentice, NBC 2004-2017
Thanks to my patrons Russell and Casey for pointing out a few additional Trump clips!
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Select footage and photos curtsey Getty
Select footage and photos curtesy AP Newsroom
This video is part of the series Maggie Talks About Movies

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

It has been fascinating to watch the decades-old aphorism 'Any American can become President!' quickly go from an affirmation to a direct threat.

[@wolvie1618]

"Any American can become president!" 😃 "Oh god....any American can become president...." 😰

[@marquisdesade3025]

Still gotta be rich

[@MalleeMate]

@@marquisdesade3025yep. Gotta have fat stacks to advertise yourself

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

Actually, it's proof that Oscar Wilde's description of Democracy as "a system of Government in which the People vote for the kind of Government that they deserve" is true - and that there IS a Higher Power running America(and using the modern "Opiate of the Masses," Hollywood, to control them.

[@brianstorm5488]

I’ve proudly said I was a Never-Trumper when he was just a shitty reality show character. Because there is no true DT, he only plays at being anything besides a baggy suit stuffed with fear and self-hatred.

[@chrismyles1538]

When I was a child teachers would tell their class that "In America any man can become President". Turns out they were right, but not in the way they intended.

[@jennyanydots2389]

What else did the teachers do to you as a child? (_)_)::::::::::::::::D ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[@Lukkilikka]

Surely that is just. Untrue? You have to be a natural born citizen for one which disqualifies some people (I get why that was a requirement when the country was young but I don't see a use for it anymore but still. There are lot of people who just can't become the president of US)

[@jennyanydots2389]

@Lind Morn People like to forget that during the early times of America you had to be both white and a landowner to vote or run for office, that was codified law here for a long, long time. Now, you just need to have access to unthinkable amounts of money as well as access to certain people's endorsements. It's still a system designed primarily to make life easier for the elites at the common man's expense, it's just not as overtly racist or classist as it used to be. They hide those things much better now, but the goals remain similar. The accumulation of concentrated power and wealth... that whole "we the people" stuff is just a sales tactic, there's not that much truth to it.

[@mnk9073]

"In America any _rich_ man can become President" there fixed it. Maybe one day in the future the US will be progressive enough to let a _rich_ woman become President too.

[@warlordnipple]

@@mnk9073 any rich woman can be president, present day, but there aren't enough rich women arrogant and stupid enough to waste their time running for president.

[@42percenthealth]

"There is no point to the conflict. The conflict IS the point." Well done, you just described all of reality TV.

[@dinosaysrawr]

These days, I find myself vastly preferring reality TV shows where people are cooperative and nice, and the best character is the most wholesome person.

[@Jimmy1982Playlists]

@@dinosaysrawr 🤣 Does that show exist?!? With all the great film & television out there... 🤦‍♂️SMH I can't believe people watch that trash!

[@juliadandy6019]

I still remember the episode where he fired a guy for taking an ethical stance and said that showed weakness. Thought me all I needed to know about him.

[@Jimmy1982Playlists]

Anyone old enough and paying attention would have known that about him since at least the '80s... Fun fact: the first time he was mentioned in the NY Times was in the '70s - it was because he and his father were being charged by the Justice Department for refusing to rent their apartments to black & brown people. We can all thank the Electoral College for installing a vicious, monstrous, wannabe-dictator clown into the Oval Office despite losing by almost 3 million votes!

[@ItsJustDoctor]

What was the ethical stance?

[@charlesatanasio]

You realize that reality tv isnt real, dont you? A director PROBABLY told him to say that.

[@joelwilcox5424]

@@charlesatanasio As well as being the host/face of the show Trump was executive producer and owned the production company…. He’s exactly who makes those decisions

[@charlesatanasio]

@@joelwilcox5424 its still a tv show dude. He probably thought itd be entertaining. Like, you think he was really strong enough to throw down with those wrestlers he did those stunts with back in the day? Grow up. You sound like you just learned santa isnt real. Tv isnt real either. Live with it.

[@ztl2505]

“I’ve got genetic pool big time, Mr. Trump” is a strong contestant for funniest sentence a human has ever uttered

[@rgemail]

...and to Trump, it sounded like a really smart PHD level thesis

[@user-et3xn2jm1u]

Yeah I had genetic pool once, but it got kinda smelly and I was tired of fishing leaves out of it in the fall. Filled the thing full of concrete and I'll never look back.

[@st.anselmsfire3547]

The only way it could've been better is if he'd called his genetics "bigly."

[@aerrae5608]

Inbred noble families also valued their gene pool.

[@TheGrayMysterious]

it sounds like the guy is in a parody, but it's real.

[@MakeMeMakeup1980]

I have never related to Tom Green as much as I do when he's staring at Donald Trump with a baffled expression. We are all Tom Green.

[@wvu05]

You should look him up on Comedy Central talking about his experiences. It was surreal.

[@joshbanks9261]

Watch Tom Green do stand up he actually is a really clever guy. He really played up dumb humor on MTV then got type casted as that in his movies. He basically made Freddy got fingered to see how far Hollywood would let him go. He also was a skate boarder and rapper as well. Trump is an overweight clown who if not born wealthy be living in a trailer park flipping burgers. Its dangerous because he knows hes a fraud just like many dictators and wants to run the country with an authoritarian grip. He should be disqualified and locked up.

[@spenx09]

"I was born with genes" that one killed me

[@TenositSergeich]

I, on other hand, am composed of igneous rock, for I was born in a magma flow. Who you gonna trust more?

[@joshthegrave]

In high school my economics teacher would show the apprentice on days when she didn’t feel like teaching and I always hated it.

[@MaggieMaeFish]

education!

[@discountchocolate4577]

Even John Stossel videos would have been more educational than that shit, god _damn._

[@Outplayedqt]

Man, I feel dumb because it was the one show my entire family would gather around to watch. The only show we all enjoyed when I was still a kid. What an odd timeline.

[@joshthegrave]

@@discountchocolate4577 I wish I was kidding when I said that’s what we watched when the civics teacher didn’t feel like teaching.

[@joshthegrave]

@@Outplayedqt I used to watch Cops with my family. I can’t judge anyone.

[@wolight]

I feel like we give the Apprentice all the credit for selling America on the idea that Trump is a successful businessman, but I give equal credit to WWE for creating the "Billionaire with a blue collar soul" persona that made him so popular with rural America

[@derekg5563]

@wolight: It seems like it takes more selling to think of him as _not_ a successful businessman than as one. Even when we see extreme outliers that defy our normal, everyday experience, we always seem to be able to chalk it up to a lot of superficial things that we have no idea how to replicate if we want to look at it that way. The problem isn't people winning the lottery. It's conscious, deliberate choices made by successful businesspeople that allows us to attach blame to their effect on society in the first place. If they were unsuccessful businesspeople, then they would just be innocent bystanders of capitalism, like most ordinary folk. By contrast, someone has to win the lottery (I'm referring to the literal, not figurative, lottery here), but that doesn't change them from being a bystander of capitalism to being a capitalist just because the system they were at the mercy of happened to spare them from the usual bad luck that most people get.

[@xerxestelevision6666]

I’m sure that his run with the wwe helped but nowhere near as much as 15 seasons of a nationally broadcast Primetime show depicting his as a business god

[@paulsmith8510]

How is he not successful? Lmao. He owns billions in property, he never worked in government and won the Presidency the 1st try. What successes have you had? We can wait.

[@chrisball3778]

There is one major difference between old Trump footage and more recent- he used to be noticeably more articulate. I don't know whether he's deliberately dumbed down his language since he went into politics to appeal more to people with limited vocabularies, or whether he's undergone some significant level of cognitive decline, but it's a really pronounced difference.

[@rgemail]

I'd say it's mostly that there was a lot of scripting and yes-men in the Apprentice, and Trump always had edit authority. Not that he hasn't had cognitive decline; he CERTAINLY hasn't improved at all, but he was always dumb as rocks. As he would be quick to remind you PERSON MAN WOMAN CAMERA TV We just see the unfiltered first take no edits stuff now. Never in his life has he had to come up with a workable idea to improve his standing, so I don't even know how we would judge objectively.

[@chrisball3778]

@@rgemail I dunno- some of his responses in the Apprentice footage seem much sharper than anything he's managed recently. He's always been dumb, but I think he's got dumber over the years, especially since he went into politics. I find it genuinely fascinating to consider how much of that is affected and how much is sincere.

[@JDoe-gf5oz]

He's very old.

[@OneStarRating]

Trump is also addicted to prescription amphetamines (Adderall) to the point where on The Apprentice set he soiled himself after snorting a line and had to change clothes. Looking into long term amphetamines abuse symptoms, he checks off every one of them.

[@carolyntalbot947]

He has definitely experienced cognitive decline, not only from age/senility but the extraordinary stress of the constant threat of exposure. It’s very difficult to maintain the image of strength, success, and prowess when every stupid thing you do and say is scrutinized by the press. That’s how Q-Anon came about, it’s a fairy-tale/fanfic to explain away everything from his childish misspelled Tweets to his close association with Jeffrey Epstein.

[@Racecarlock]

I don't know what's worse, the fact that trump treated the presidency like a TV show, or the fact that it was a goddamn rerun.

[@MrxstGrssmnstMttckstPhlNelThot]

And now he's begging for a more dramatic reboot that might get the whole channel changed forever and eventually shut down!

[@charlesatanasio]

@@MrxstGrssmnstMttckstPhlNelThot You sound like youre talking about Biden.

[@djhero0071]

Naw.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@charlesatanasio I know you guys have no coherent thoughts but come on how did that make sense in your head. Biden has never had a reality show like come on.

[@derekg5563]

@@hedgehog3180 Isn't it coherent that someone could treat something like a TV show without being on a TV show? I don't see the lack of coherence in that thought. There is a certain way TV shows are treated, so a person can just apply that treatment to whatever it is they are doing. They can't necessarily supply the show itself but they can apply the treatment that would normally be applied to a show to something else instead.

[@Nobody_Special310]

To be fair, the toilet thing is probably about him being unable to flush government documents, so his poops may not be as monumental as he'd have us believe.

[@jeremysmith4620]

The more he mentions his "massive dumps," the more I believe Trump has tiny, weak, puny dumps. The dumps of a looser. Tiny Donald Dumps. That's what they'd say back in New York, "here comes Tiny Donald Dumps that couldn't even block up a toilet if he ate cheese for a month straight." Some people are saying his whole family are weak dumpers, but I'm sure there may be one or two strong dumpers in his family on both sides. Definitely not the best of dumpers though. I wouldn't believe a word in his book though. With a title like, "The Art of the Dump," you know it's nothing but dumperbole. I heard he even used a Ghost Dumper. Sad really. So sad.

[@FearlessSon]

That is almost certainly the case. Though it pleases me to imagine him stuck on the toilet for hours while enduring excruciating discomfort as his gastrointestinal tract voids itself painfully, uncontrollably, and with an eye-watering caustic stench. ... it would explain his Tweets, come to think of it.

[@jaymontana2708]

If u want proof how dumb he is, just remember he flushed documents in a mansion with dozens of fireplaces.

[@Dackad]

I dunno, he was always talking about BIG, MASSIVE DUMPS so I think it could go either way.

[@unrightist]

Given what we know about his diet, both are plausible

[@Werewolf_Korra]

Remember when Comedy Central roasted him and nobody was allowed to talk about his bankruptcies? It's almost like when you actually point out his crucial flaws, he gets pissy.

[@carolyntalbot947]

That’s a great point. Everything is marketing and promotion for Trump, so if you actually _roast_ him it’s not a joke but an existential threat. Did you see his face at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner? He would have throttled President Obama and Seth Myers with his own tiny hands if he thought he could get away with it, instead he broke with tradition and never attended again. Like a big baby.

[@detective2221]

@@carolyntalbot947 proof?

[@jons787]

The cleverest foreshadowing technique of the Trump presidency show was all his toilet comments: he was hinting at the final season, reveal that he was illegally trying to flush documents!

[@aestevalis0]

It taught him absolutely nothing. No mistake he's ever made has ever taught him anything.

[@jennyanydots2389]

I bet all of your clothes are absolutely covered in sea men stains.

[@ronaldjuenger7433]

Our mistake for thinking he wanted to learn

[@jennyanydots2389]

@@ronaldjuenger7433 It's from your mistakes that every pair of underwear you own is full of skid marks boy!

[@aestevalis0]

Grow up @@jennyanydots2389

[@jennyanydots2389]

@@aestevalis0 I'll grow up your bee whole son. How about I do that boy? (_)_)::::::::::D ~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[@jeremysmith4620]

OMG I can't believe you chose to seek out and watch Apprentice episodes. I salute your bravery and blatant disregard for personal mental health during this monumental task. Are you ok?

[@sheila623]

Proud to say I have NEVER seen a single episode of The Apprentice or the Kardashians, lol

[@thepeculiarjourneyofmontyw8658]

Omg. Wow. You're right! This was above and beyond!

[@triadxtechnologies]

I watched it about 10 minutes once and the orange man made me want to barf. Al I could see is some fake moron pretending to be a powerful rich person with the acting skills of a 4th grader bully.

[@Sugar3Glider]

Wait ... Hershel Walker, footballer living in Texas for two decades who is running for a seat in a state he doesn't live in?

[@manderly33]

It’s really interesting how many of his celeb buds are from the celebrity apprentice days. That clip of Dennis Rodman explaining what a bad idea it was to make Walker the leader is [chef’s kiss].

[@JBoy62497]

I have been WAITING for somebody to analyze Trump's time on the Apprentice as it relates to his presidency so I'm super stoked to watch this.

[@Katranga]

The conversations between him and contestants sound like Michael Scott trying to impress Dwight Schrute

[@asmodiusjones9563]

14:14 low-flow toilets being unable to handle certain individuals’ bowel movements was an episode of King of the Hill. I genuinely wonder if Trump saw that episode and that was the genesis of him making a point of that (seems unlikely, KotH is too subtle for him, but the plot lines up really well). The episode has one of the most descriptive lines in the show, demonstrating the conflict between Hank Hill’s stolid middle-American idealism and the harsh realities of the world we actually live in. After Hank refused to accept a high-flow toilet while they were still illegal, instead opting to continue to try to change the law: Sleazy small town politician (with obvious contempt): “well, you’re a real Boy Scout, aren’t you Hank?” Hank (with cheerful obliviousness): “Made it to Eagle!”

[@olddog476]

That was a great episode.

[@searchingfororion]

I remember that it was one of the very first episodes. When my family tuned in to see this new show, it was the first we saw. It went over with... mixed reception. The following week my father looked at my mother and said, "Want to watch 'King of the Hill'? Get another shot maybe this one won't be about sh!t?" A man of refinement my father...

[@thejuiceking2219]

hank hill for president

[@SpaghettyLuvsU]

Hank Hill would have absolutely hated Donald Trump's presidency.

[@rotwang2000]

I figure that he's one of those people who has had so little education stick to him, that any fact he does learn, becomes something he wants to show off. I'm convinced that just before he made that infamous "inject bleach" comment they had briefed him about how they disinfect things and his little brain started to work and figured that if he came up with a genius idea nobody ever thought of, in front of the media, he'd be hailed a genius. If you look at it, he kinda realizes he's saying something dumb in a bold attempt to sound like the smartest guy in the room and you see him backpedal and shrug, like he's slowly figuring his genius idea that might have stumped all the doctors and specialists gathered is now a garbage fire ... And it's not the first time he brings out these nuggets of trivia, unaware that he's not being told some top level stuff because he's the President, but because he knows just about nothing other than how to be Trump. He has next to no intellectual curiosity, he's not going to grab a book and try to learn from it. He just gobbles up whatever info is thrown at him and he tries to make it look like he knows special things.

[@jammydodger7065]

'when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade' or in the case of Trump: 'when life gives you a small issue, you turn that into conflict' wonderful video!

[@DrZaius3141]

When life gives you a tiny dick, turn into a massive dick yourself.

[@praxillascucumbers7680]

Or, sadly, an issue of any size... Excellent video!

[@dramonmaster222]

Wow! Watching this and remembering how The Apprentice used to be popular is definitely a trip.

[@stvstreett]

i never knew anyone who ever watched it. at least admit to it.

[@sarahgent2674]

As a British, it's really interesting to see the US Apprentice. The UK version is pretty much only about making the contestants look like idiots, and there's an aftershow that is entirely devoted to laughing at the actual show. The Trump figure, Alan Sugar, is known as a general businessman but also afaik actually from the working class originally, and actually somewhat built his own wealth. He provides cutting remarks and doesn't suffer fools, but honestly imo he's not very memorable. Also it's on the BBC so they don't explicitly advertise anything he's involved in

[@sarahgent2674]

@Lind Morn Yeah that's a good point, I did word that poorly. What I meant is that he did do at least some work and didn't come from money like trump did, so at least had to be nominally good at business

[@theomegajuice8660]

For illustration of this: Mitchell and Webb did a comedy sketch about it that basically sums up the UK Apprentice. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaTWXmhvm85npK8

[@BAIGAMING]

I remember a few years ago, Alan Sugar (or Lord Sugar as he calls himself) had a meltdown on Twitter. I've heard of sugar meltdowns but never like that!

[@laurenpinschannels]

having employees doesn't mean you did nothing. some business investors ("capitalists") are nothing but leeches, other business investors ("capitalists") are leeches with skill and contribution to make, but who price their contribution catastrophically unfavorably, sometimes a business founder isn't a capitalist at all and instead is a commander who shares value fairly, and the best is when everyone is paid in equal amounts of stock (ie a co-op); this is ridiculously rare and all capitalists want you to believe the employee contact you signed was fair, but if it's not a coop and you don't have a union, then you probably have an awful bargaining position and the investors and bosses are taking way way more value than they provide to employees; this is true even of businesses that pay their employees a lot, they're always taking *way, way* more than they pay employees, even during the good times!

[@hansakkerman2611]

@Lind Morn he started out selling car aerials, a real rags to riches story. He made a few potentially career destroying decisions, but didn't have a billionaire father to bail him out, like Trump did. He served as an economic adviser to the then Labour government, which proved to be not that good of a decision.

[@MarcAquino1095]

Pim Tool, squeaky T, and “Dad Girl” Sally all remind me of people I went to high school with. Boy, am I glad I didn’t turn out like any of them.

[@JustJen1386]

Pitting people together is the oldest trick in the narcissist’s playbook (it goes back awhile, see The Art of War) and stoking chaos among the underlings keeps them too occupied and tired to take attention or power away from the narcissist. And the only stakes these people find important is whatever concerns them, personally.

[@hedgehog3180]

I don't know how I feel about you calling Sun Tzu a narcissist, that's quite the hot take.

[@georgiajeff912]

It's really quite amazing how his hair has gone from brown to peroxide blonde.

[@mumblesbadly7708]

When Trump mentioned having to flush toilets many times to get them to flush, he was talking about how he struggled with disposing of documents and notes he tore up down the toilet, which were violations of the Presidential Records Act.

[@piggybackshiggy]

OH MAGGIE, Mubi is legit so good. My friend and I found it with a two weeks trial months ago. There are so many heckin bangers on there that I would of never heard of.

[@carlgrimeseyepatch27]

Watching celebrity apprentice with my dad is a core memory. Never would have expected him to be president !!!

[@bharris591]

And the only channel I receive notifications for. Thanks Ms. Fish.

[@johndunlap1143]

Your videos are awesome. Keep making them. Even when you talk about the most toxic stuff, your bubbly personality shines through.

[@darwiniandude]

Yeah agreed - there is no way I'd watch anything Trump related, especially on KZbin. Urgh. Because it's from this channel I clicked it with some sense of nervous trepidation, but it was worth it :)

[@detective2221]

@@darwiniandude yall hate trump?

[@darwiniandude]

Hate is a strong word, but I certainly don't admire narcissistic pathological liars.@@detective2221

[@crazysnas181]

Okay, but having Tom Green and Dennis Rodman in the same room is honestly my idea of good TV. Kind of a shame that Trump gets in the way of them

[@pepi7404]

5:09 "I was born with principles, I was with values, and more so I was born with jeans."

[@darwiniandude]

I thought I'd been half-bemused. half-traumatised by most of Trump's shenanigans; somehow I'd missed the whole toilet flushing saga. Wow. So thank you for enriching my life just that little bit more. :) Love your work.

[@joncarroll2040]

Carl Bernstein gave a talk at my high school on the theme of "idiot culture". The example he used was the NY Post's coverage of Trump's affair with Marla Maples. The main thrust of his discussion was that the media's obsession with these non-stories was a bad thing that would have terrible repercussions.

[@stvsmbb]

losing it because “squeaky T” from the beginning an end segments looks EXACTLY like the object of my freshman-year-of-high-school tragic love affair

[@ceritusorbis]

This is exactly the kind of video I've been hoping you'd produce more of. Can't wait for the rest!

[@TroubleToby3040]

My favorite of your videos so far. Don't suppose you're going to cover later seasons? I'd be there for it. Anyway, great video. 👍👍👍

[@Deondre_Clark]

I can't believe that almost a decade after he came down the escalator and shared with world how racist he was/declared for president that no one has dug into The Apprentice. Hard to find an interesting new take about the most discussed person in the country but of course Maggie did.

[@JP-JustSayin]

So watching old seasons of the apprentice is like when a sports team reviews tape on an upcoming opponent… can't leave that online.

[@filmfreak1994]

I remember my old 9th grade Career Ed teacher would put on season one episodes of "The Apprentice" every so often. Another reason why that class was a huge waste of time.

[@justinwatson1510]

Trump made me wonder if there are some people who don't have complete sentience. On an unrelated note, this show was one of the things that convinced me that the whole meritocracy schtick is a lie.

[@detective2221]

ur liberal

[@melmel376]

Lmfao Pim Tool is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week. Thank you for that laugh. 😂

[@sledzeppelin]

My big takeaway from that show is his concept of "fighting for yourself." This means cheating, lying, and blaming. Over and over, if one contestant actually took responsibility for something they did wrong, he'd fire them for "not fighting", and he'd keep the one who told the most lies and shifted the blame to others. Because they "fight."

[@stuartbrownlee3108]

The toilet thing put me in mind of that movie "On the Road To Wellville" - e.g "My own stools sir, are enormous and have no more smell than a hot biscuit!"

[@unoriginaljames]

Thank you for the content as always! Excited to see what you'll do next!

[@grimmgoosegoose216]

Thank you for the excellent breakdown Maggie ♡

[@MaggieMaeFish]

What "Bad Actors" do you want to see me investigate?

[@mathieuleader8601]

*OH BOY!*

[@tendiesoffmyplate9085]

Ah, yes. An astute observation. People right of center have no autonomy and aren't capable of forming their own opinions. Such a solid attack.

[@darthvaderginsburg]

🎵 when you're with me, oh boy 🎵

[@Caffeine_Club]

Any of the 'I'd have no celebrity left if it weren't for my right-wing views that I can't stop sharing with everyone' actors like Scott Baio, Kevin Sorbo, etc....

[@manderly33]

Ted Cruz! Because that clip of him playing John Proctor never gets old.

[@DBXNaato]

what a time capsule, i think i remember the lemonade episode

[@temtem8110]

I’m on this channel for the first time, but “Pim Tool” is already having me in a chokehold

[@Morepanthers]

Love waking up to a Maggie Mae Fish video! ♥️

[@robesdebah4811]

My first real job was run by a very nice conservative guy who nonetheless ran his company based on the idea that internal competition would get results. Instead there were just a bunch of assholes bullying the rest of the staff and occasionally getting ahead for it. It's one of the central ideals of conservatism and it infects even the sweetest, most civic minded among them.

[@shakesbits5220]

Knowing now that he actually tried to flush documents makes the sentence about water pressure actually make sense lol

[@crimsonfiend213]

I love your videos ! You’re amazing!

[@mAssbagflyer]

I didn't really want to watch this right now but I saw it on my homepage and I clicked it for ur analytics + algorithm because i love you so much on um actually and related work

[@Lightsign01]

I like that she showed him "always being exactly the same" via two ironic quotes that highlighted his hypocrisy, no moral-integrity or intellectual-intergrity.

[@avef]

New to your work. Really marathonning it at work, excellent insight across all topics. Great one stop shop. Keep at it 🤘🏼

[@EbuCallinav]

The Apprentice was actually started on the idea that Trump being in charge of anything was a joke. They played it up a lot in the first season, take for instance the scene where Trump boldly walks into the lobby and tells the lady at the counter to hold his calls. Cue the shot of her looking confused as all hell trying to figure out who he is. The show had the opposite effect and help start to legitimize him. Eventually the viewers started forgetting the joke and the show changed course and started playing him up instead.

[@teslawizardvvv3]

Don't forget his Battle of the Billionaires at Wresltemania Trump had a legit run in WWE.

[@phangkuanhoong7967]

I laughed in the first minute. great stuff. love it. thank you!

[@Jamesbull46]

Thank you for covering this reality show I've never watch one episode of it, but from what you've shown i can see the Parallels Between his reality show and how he ran his term as president hes still in character.

[@shenanigans2877]

At this point, he's absorbed the character into an unholy amalgamation of personalities that's fueled by buzzwords and megalomaniac ego

[@westhefitting4105]

Hearing Rodman call Walker a 15 year old kid... oh my gosh Great video!

[@Arsenik17]

Thank you for including movie titles in the corner.

[@Michael-kp4bd]

I can’t believe you got the real Pim Tool to be on here. Bravo!

[@Michael-kp4bd]

Also just wanted to say Hi Maggie! We were in the same freshman dorm, and seeing you rise in my favorite KZbin space and even get shout outs from KZbin legends has been so freaking cool to see!! Keep up the amazing content! Also, last year I saw someone at my local Walgreens (with a mask on) and I really REALLY thought it was you, and wanted to get the opportunity to tell you you’re killing it! I shyly approached and asked them “hey are you Maggie?” …and they said “no, sorry” 🤣🤣 I felt silly. If you read this, I hope you can get a kick out of vicarious embarrassment. Thinking about it, you probably don’t even live in the city near where we went to school anymore, but in the moment I just felt the need to tell you what you’re doing is great and I keep getting more and more recommendations to check out your channel, which is kinda surreal, but also well deserved! Also I hate the idea of waking up to someone in their day to day lives but it was like minutes of pondering in the same checkout line and I just HAD to ask. Lmao

[@dwaynezilla]

the "10,15 times" flushing thing makes a lot more sense when you find out that Trump tried (as in failed because of a clogged toilet) to flush ripped up documents to avoid them going to the National Archives

[@virginiarogers9391]

I took a marketing class in high school and we watched episodes of the Apprentice sometimes. this was in 2014-2015. When Trump announced his running for the presidency, one of my classmates asked our marketing teacher if he thought he had a chance at winning. He scoffed and said no. we all had no reason to disagree, it did seem unlikely.. man that haunts me.

[@shenanigans2877]

He was such a bad candidate that he made a neoliberal grifter like Hillary look good by contrast, so he deserves credit for that incredible feat

[@solitarymaninblack]

Great zoom intro. Nice video in general.

[@frankthatank4900]

Really loved the start of the video lmao.

[@DorkSideStudio]

Lol, the way that guy stares at Jessica Simpson after asking if she is eating chicken.

[@sfdjkdj43589stf]

that "is this chicken or fish" bit fuckign killed me

[@GraeHall]

"You'd all be Dave Reubens if it wasn't for me" - got an obnoxiously loud "HAH!" outa me, fantastic.

[@Trav_Can]

You're the best Maggie!

[@joeyj6808]

Good stuff MMF!

[@MrxstGrssmnstMttckstPhlNelThot]

In high school my careers teacher liked to show The Apprentice in class. I graduated in 2015 though so I have no clue how she ended up doing things AFTER the election happened. She was also the teacher about politics so I am actually kinda curious how that all ended up going.

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Oh no

[@matthewhuszarik4173]

I have seen and heard about some terrible teachers, but this takes the cake.

[@luccaladinig2783]

Wow, even those short clips were hard to get through. I can't imagine watching a whole episode of that, let alone several...

[@FascistPastry]

Oddly my fever dreams also largely feature William Hurt, cancelled NBC shows, and Donald Trump in his salmon colored tie... except it's an actual salmon.

[@Waluiginumberone]

Bless you for exploring these dark recesses of humanity.

[@leofreaking]

5:13 Didn't expect Dwight Schrute to show up on the Apprentice

[@marxmeesterlijk]

Pim Tool 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Maggie bringing the heat!!!

[@cactustactics]

I remember someone who worked on the show coming out and saying that they really struggled to create ~any~ kind of narrative or even basic coherence for the episodes, and the image of Trump they ended up portraying to the world was basically a fiction. Then we got to watch that happen on a larger scale with the media trying to rationalise his actions and paraphrase his statements into something that made any kind of sense. We ended up living in a reality tv show, basically! Not a fan

[@phillipwiles5581]

Only thing that would have made it better, is the press conference were he asked about bleach, he also asked about bring light inside the body. If you had used the video "The Space Cowboy LED sword swallowing"

[@mathieuleader8601]

I always liked the Donald Trump parody in the adult animated sitcom Drawn Together where he was parodied as a obscene version of Richie Rich

[@sabretoo]

I recommend the film notebook, it's really fun!

[@BDavinci06]

That is a very excellent analysis of the Trump Presidency by contrasting it and comparing it with the Apprentice reality show and is very spot on. It really has felt for the past 4 years we've been on a terrible reality show. It makes a whole lot of sense.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

"Megyan Libel" is absolutely hilarious. Has anyone sent you a strongly worded email because that's their actual name? Would... not be surprised 😂

[@MovieEggman]

“I don’t think he has any leadership skills, as far as being the voice of command” Dennis Rodman predicted the outcome of Hershel Walker‘s failed political career

[@1chiTheKiller]

So I know she looked at the toilet thing as him talking about his "big massive dumps" (his words), but I'm pretty sure him talking about flushing the toilet over and over again was him actually talking about constantly trying to flush secret and covert documents instead. That came out that his staff kept trying to get him to stop throwing papers in the toilet since it kept clogging them up. He also would tear up nearly every piece of paper he is ever given, as he was always wanting to cover his tracks. This is something he was used to doing ever since his business days, but if you're in public office, those records actually NEED to be kept and preserved. There was a team of people whose job it was to tape back together every bit of paper he would constantly tear apart all the time. I know the toilet clogging thing seemed gross, but it was him actually talking openly about his own ego and his constant worry that he's going to be caught doing something illegal. It's hilarious.

[@giantcocokrisp]

I didn't know Robin Scherbatsky had her own YT channel

[@DeviantDork]

He was flushing papers down the toilet, that's why he was complaining about them. He was creating a narrative. But now there's pictures of documents in White House toilets.

[@franco426]

Great work Maggie! It made me laugh and appalled of the reality star turned President. When the stakes were high, well America went with the steaks guy!

[@ebmosier1]

Reading "Too Much and Never Enough" taught me what I already knew in my heart - the guy has never developed a sense of empathy for anything or anyone around him. He learned by his older brother Freddy's example that, if he wanted to win in the eyes of their father, he had to be as cruel and uncaring as Fred Sr. was. (Freddy actually stood up to their father and was ridiculed and belittled for it.)

[@nekobun]

For some reason I am fixating on the fact the toilet photo was taken by someone going by "whoisjohngalt"

[@briar_the.discoyt]

I remember an episode where one of the project leaders asked for feedback from his team. The guys started calling him weak for doing that. While I agree confidence is important, I am constantly being asked for feedback on my manager, AND I have always been encouraged to ask for feedback myself. Even if this is a recent development in work culture, a good leader is shown by doing right by their team.

[@briar_the.discoyt]

@@ShainAndrews I've worked at some large companies and feedback is built into the whole culture. But I guess it's case by case. Glad I don't work where you do :)

[@railguncat7751]

@@ShainAndrews He's literally doing what his bosses tell him to and you're getting defensive, taking it as a personal decision on his part that he does alone while he clearly states it's a company wide thing. What team are you on even?

[@yoshewab1639]

Thank you for more hard work Maggie.

[@chaplainsunshine]

I totally blocked out the time he wanted to buy Greenland from Denmark.

[@matthewhuszarik4173]

That this TV show stayed on the air more than one episode is damning criticism of Americans.

[@JM-ot8ux]

Too many people think watching television is how you spend all your free time, and if you aren't watching it what's wrong with you? Everybody watches TV, don't they? It's really kinda, you know, _weird_ if you don't watch TV. Everybody watches TV.

[@matthewhuszarik4173]

@@JM-ot8ux There is one thing watching TV they have some quality dramas and comedies. But this exploitation TV is another thing. It is like we haven’t gotten any better than the Coliseums of Rome taking pleasure and entertainment from others suffering.

[@JM-ot8ux]

@@matthewhuszarik4173 There's nothing more insidious than well-made TV.

[@justbrowsing9697]

Great skits as always! I'm glad I got stuck with internet entertainment honestly, rather than this trash reality tv. Both aren't great, but at least the internet is more than willingly to rip you from the pedestal they put you on compared to tv

[@andid]

The entire administration I was waiting for an Apprentice deep dive, because there's so much there there. Makes sense they'd try to scrub it.

[@KatelynHyde]

How is this only now being served to me? I watch and love all of Maggie's videos. (Even if I am deeply intimidated by how much smarter she is than me.)

[@adelaidedupont9017]

Thanks for the movie journal!