In a new column, documentarian and filmmaker Michael Moore says Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is trying to lose the presidential election because he never wanted the job anyway.
Writing for AlterNet, Moore said that the former reality TV star is only running as a way of getting a better deal for the next season of The Apprentice.
Trump, Moore said, "never wanted to be president of the United States. I know this for a fact. I’m not going to say how I know it. I’m not saying that Trump and I shared the same agent or lawyer or stylist or, if we did, that that would have anything to do with anything. And I’m certainly not saying that I ever overheard anything at those agencies or in the hallways of NBC or anywhere else. But there are certain people reading this right now, they know who they are, and they know that every word in the following paragraphs actually happened."
"Trump was unhappy with his deal as host and star of his hit NBC show, 'The Apprentice' (and 'The Celebrity Apprentice')," Moore said. "Simply put, he wanted more money. He had floated the idea before of possibly running for president in the hopes that the attention from that would make his negotiating position stronger."
Trump let it be known in the industry that he was thinking about moving the Apprentice franchise to another network, then launched a campaign for president that was never meant to succeed.
"So, on June 16th of last year, he rode down his golden escalator and opened his mouth. With no campaign staff, no 50-state campaign infrastructure -- neither of which he needed because, remember, this wasn’t going to be a real campaign -- and with no prepared script, he went off the rails at his kick-off press conference, calling Mexicans 'rapists' and 'drug dealers' and pledging to build a wall to keep them all out. Jaws in the room were agape. His comments were so offensive, NBC, far from offering him a bigger paycheck, immediately fired him with this terse statement: 'Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.'"
Trump, the biggest-ever believer in his stellar business acumen, was stunned that the gambit not only didn't work, but got him fired. He decided to press on, regardless.
"And then something happened. And to be honest, if it happened to you, you might have reacted the same way. Trump, to his own surprise, ignited the country, especially among people who were the opposite of billionaires. He went straight to #1 in the polls of Republican voters. Up to 30,000 boisterous supporters started showing up to his rallies. TV ate it up," Moore wrote.
"Trump fell in love with himself all over again, and he soon forgot his mission to get a good deal for a TV show," said Moore. Trump decided that reality TV was too small of a venue for his big personality.
The night he won the New Jersey primary, said Moore, was Trump's "Oh, shit" moment.
"I’m actually going to be the Republican nominee -- and my rich beautiful life is f#*@ing over!” Moore said, imagining Trump's thoughts.
Then followed the agonizing series of gaffes and missteps.
"By this past weekend, the look on his face said it all -- 'I hate this! I want my show back!'” wrote Moore. "But it was too late. He was damaged goods, his brand beyond repair, a worldwide laughing stock—and worse, a soon-to-be loser."
"Many now are sensing the end game here because they know Trump seriously doesn’t want to do the actual job -- and, most importantly, he cannot and WILL NOT suffer through being officially and legally declared a loser -- LOSER! -- on the night of November 8th," Moore concluded.
The question is, how will that endgame take shape?
