U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday took a swipe at actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for leaving "The Celebrity Apprentice," saying the latter left the show due to his 'pathetic' ratings and not because of him as alleged by the Hollywood star.
"Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show."
Schwarzenegger announced Friday that he will not be returning for another season of "Celebrity Apprentice" and he blamed Trump for the show's dwindling ratings.
Despite NBC's best efforts to promote the show, "when people found out that Trump was still involved as executive producer and was still receiving money from the show, then half the people [started] boycotting it," Schwarzenegger told Empire.
Earlier in January, Trump had mocked the Hollywood star for failing to match the ratings he received when he was the host of "The Celebrity Apprentice."
In a series of tweets, Trump said that Schwarzenegger "got 'swamped' (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine DJT."
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When the show debuted in 2004, Trump's "The Apprentice" was a ratings smash-hit and 18.5 million viewers tuned into its premiere episode.
However by the time his run as host ended, ratings had fallen precipitously.