Howard Stern Makes Stunning Claim About The Trump Presidential Campaign Being A ‘Publicity Stunt’
Just days after claiming that Donald Trump’s support for the spate of anti-abortion bills sponsored by conservative states was a lie, Howard Stern is back making serious accusations about his longtime friend.
The radio show host, who ran his own nationally syndicated program for two decades, got to know Trump in a personal capacity as the real estate mogul made several stops on his show. As reported by The Inquisitr, Stern recently said that he didn’t believe that Trump was anti-abortion because he probably got a “few people abortions” himself. And now the television personality has claimed that Trump’s entire 2016 presidential campaign was designed as a “publicity stunt” to get himself a better deal with NBC, with Trump himself unaware of the long-reaching consequences of his actions, according to The Hill.
Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Stern made the stunning proclamation about Trump’s campaign not being a serious affair from the start. Stern said that the foundations of what later became Trump’s presidential campaign had been laid way back in 1987 when he published The Art of the Deal, a bestseller book ghostwritten by Tony Schwartz. According to Stern, a public relations professional suggested to Trump that he start a rumor about a probable presidential campaign to get his book the traction it needed.
“So, all of a sudden, he was being interviewed — the book goes right to No. 1,” Stern said, before adding that when Trump’s second book came out, “that’s when he started the rumor that he was running for president.”
Stern claims that NBC had refused to give Trump a raise for his show The Apprentice because its ratings were suffering. So Trump employed the same method he had used about two decades previously to get his book the attention: This time the rumor was started for NBC to notice and give him a raise.
“The Apprentice ratings were not what they were, NBC was not going to give him a raise. And what’s a better way to get NBC’s interest? I’ll run for president and I’ll get lots of press. And I think that’s what happened.”
JUST IN: Howard Stern says he has inside info that Trump campaign was 'publicity stunt'https://t.co/It1C6qgDjI pic.twitter.com/BcsHSjs3qn
— The Hill (@thehill) May 24, 2019
Stern went on to claim that he still doesn’t think that Trump enjoys being president at all. However, Stern maintained that once Trump began to perform well in the Republican debates and primaries, he has little doubt that his longtime friend actually wanted to win.
“I think he liked winning the presidency. He likes to win,” Stern said.
