Howard Stern says he has 'inside information' that Trump's run for office was a publicity stunt to get a better deal from NBC for 'Apprentice'
Popular radio host Howard Stern on Thursday said that Donald Trump ran for the 2016 presidency in hopes of getting a better deal from NBC for his show 'The Apprentice'.Stern said that he has inside information that confirms the Republican's motive for his White House run. He, however, did not name his source.
Stern said that a public relations specialist, years ago, floated the idea of Trump getting a rumor circulated that he was considering running for the White House. The rumors began circulation at the time he first released his book "The Art of the Deal."
The radio celebrity said that the scheme worked and the Republican's popularity increased along with his book sales. The same scheme was reportedly applied when Trump released his second book 'The Art of the Comeback.'
"In the last election, “The Apprentice” ratings were not what they were; NBC was not going to give him a raise, and what’s a better way than to get NBC’s interest? ‘I’ll run for president, get lots of press,' and I think that’s what happened," Stern said, according to Fox News.
There have been multiple theories on why Trump ran for the presidency, and one of them includes him resenting President Obama's onslaught during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. A New York Times report stated that Trump "quickly left, appearing bruised," quoting then-Washington Post editor, Marcus Brauchi, who said Trump was “incredibly gracious and engaged on the way in,” but left “with maximum efficiency.”
Trump, however, said that he "loved that dinner" and can "handle criticism" and maintained that he decided to enter politics because the country needed him and he was the most prepared to fix the issues America was battling with, including trade policies and immigration.
The radio host, while making an appearance on CNN, had also claimed that Trump has father issues and that he was likely traumatized in his childhood. Stern said that Trump could possibly benefit from psychotherapy.
“I wish he would go into psychotherapy,” Stern told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “I would be so proud of him, and he would flourish.”