Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks he knows why Trump always tweets about him

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 8 March 2017

Love makes you do crazy things, Arnold Schwarzenegger says, like tweet insults at the man who replaced you on a reality show that pits such celebrities as Gary Busey and La Toya Jackson against one another.

During an interview Tuesday on SiriusXM's The Michael Smerconish Program, the actor and former governor of California discussed politics, and the conversation turned to President Trump. Smerconish asked Schwarzenegger why Trump felt compelled to "keep talking about you through his Twitter feed," and Schwarzenegger shared his theory. "I think he's in love with me," he said.

Showering a person you like with negative attention is a tried and true tactic of the elementary school playground, and Trump has been talking about Schwarzenegger ever since he took over as host of The Celebrity Apprentice; he even went so far as asking during the National Prayer Breakfast for the crowd to "pray for Arnold" and The Celebrity Apprentice's ratings. Schwarzenegger announced earlier this month he is leaving the show because of the "baggage" attached to it, and the president's last tweet about him came on March 4. "Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't voluntarily leaving The Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me," he said. "Sad end to great show."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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