Trump to make 2012 announcement on ‘The Apprentice’ (AP)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110414/ts_yblog_theticket/trump-to-make-2012-announcement-on-the-apprentice

Ever since Donald Trump began soaking up media attention around his possible 2012 presidential run, he's faced plenty of detractors claiming that he's simply using all the 2012 speculation to shore up his celebrity brand.

The latest turn in the Trump political saga isn't exactly going to silence that line of criticism.

The real estate mogul has chosen the season finale of his NBC reality show, "The Apprentice" as the venue for announcing his presidential decision, Newsmax reported late Wednesday. The show is set to air May 15. Newsmax reports that Trump will announce plans to hold a press conference to announce his candidacy in the Trump Tower in New York "a few days after" the finale.

...

Newsmax's Ronald Kessler defended Trump from charges of cynical media manipulation. Kessler noted Thursday that even after Trump announces his campaign, he'll still be accused of staging a campaign for publicity. "But that defies the facts and common sense," Kessler wrote. "Of all the people on the planet, Donald Trump is the last person who needs more publicity. And if he is riding a groundswell of support, why would he—or anyone else—decide not to run?"

Not that there was ever any indication that this bozo was in earnest about any of this (except to utter imbeciles), but it's pretty funny when a troll candidacy like Trump's can even compete with the Romneys and Pawlentys early on.

[Renew Deal]

1. I think there may be FEC issues with that.

[Sherman A1]

10. Agreed

I don't think he is that foolish, but we will see.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

11. Well I suspect he will ultimately announce he's not running after all, so it may be moot.

After the season finale of course.

Because, you see, he's such a patriot he couldn't bear to split the GOP vote and given Obama another free term.

[Renew Deal]

14. good point.

If he announces that he's not running, then there's no issue.

[Renew Deal]

13. He is.

But I also think he's clueless on this stuff. He will be informed, but it's too late to back out.

[msanthrope]

20. "Contributions in Kind"--it's why Warhorse Fred left Law and Order. n/t

[leveymg]

2. Anyone else get the feeling that Mr. Bad Combover is doing this to keep up his ratings?

As well as for other ego-maniacal and commercial reasons.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. Of course it's for ratings/publicity and not a serious run. If he hadn't chosen the birther angle

to play to make his initial splash, he wouldn't have dropped about thirty rungs lower on the "human slime" scale for me, but he did and he has.

No one who was actually seriously going to run would:

a - choose a disgusting tack like the birther one to make waves with, it's not even a fresh take on the birther thing, it's years old rehashed racist crap, not even original racist crap

b - announce that he might run as an independent if he lost the primary. No serious candidate would make such a statement well in advance of any primary, it's already telegraphing that the candidacy is a troll, even aside from Trump's persona as an obnoxious showbiz pretend businessman and the birther stupidity.

The Apprentice annoucement of the announcement is just the final signal for all but the stupidest people that, show's over, nothing to see here folks.

[NYC Liberal]

3. Who here thinks Keith Olbermann would have been allowed to

use his show as a platform for his own political campaign?

(As if!)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

4. That's not even the issue. This just makes it more plain than it even was before that it's just a

ratings stunt.

[NYC Liberal]

5. Oh of course. I knew it from the moment he started

spouting his birther bullshit.

Every time Trump rears his head in the news, it's him intentionally causing a controversy to get his face on TV as promo for himself.

[Uben]

6. The Trumpster......he's such a ........okay, maybe he's not

It's a win/win for him. He promotes his ego and saves millions in advertising costs, promotes his ego by getting higher ratings, and he can brag about how little he has spent on advertising!

[leftynyc]

7. Title is misleading

On the show he's going to announce a subsequent press conference("a few days later") about his plans. The title is to drive up ratings.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. Now THAT'S Presidential gravitas!

Wonder if Chuck Todd will forget his key criterion.

[Shiver]

12. If it wasn't about publicity,

he wouldn't be announcing his decision on a television program. Nor would he announce that beforehand. This is all about boosting the ratings for the season finale, and nothing else.

[jenmito]

15. Lawrence O'Donnell showed how The Apprentice's ratings dropped in the past week or more.

So this is an attempt to get his birther fans to watch.

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. That will certainly put to rest the theory that he is doing this increase ratings for his show

[Ikonoklast]

17. Trump isn't going to run, he'll never release his financial records.

This is all P.T. Barnum stuff for the rubes to swallow.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

18. He's running for higher ratings kinda like Gingrich is running for higher

speaking fees.

[tanyev]

19. The Apprentice Season 10: The Megalomaniac

[ReggieVeggie]

21. I guess I'm not the political junkie I thought I was

I have no interest in Donald Trump running for anything or saying anything or announcing anything. He's like Ross Perot, he's there just to stir-up shit.