Despite coming up with one of the greatest catchphrases ever – "You're Fired! — Donald Trump never actually made the decisions about which contestants to boot off "Celebrity Apprentice."
That's the word from Clay Aiken, the breakout singer and songwriter from "American Idol" who also appeared on Trump's highly-rated NBC reality show.
"He didn't make those decisions, he didn't fire those people," Aiken, 38, told "Domecast," a weekly podcast produced by The News & Observer newspaper.
Aiken, a Democrat and activist, says it's not likely Trump makes his own decisions now, even though he's in the White House — because he doesn't seem to be "willing to do the work and the research to figure out what's going on."
"The man as president definitely has a teleprompter sitting on his desk right now, with people telling him, 'such and such is in the healthcare bill,'" Aiken said.
"I feel like half the time, his teleprompter has broken down as president and he doesn't know what's going on. He probably is leading the country in the same way that he did 'The Apprentice.'"
"Donald Trump isn't the businessman that people believe he is because we saw him on TV, playing in 'The Apprentice.' And he did look like he was leading, but on 'The Apprentice' he doesn't lead."
Aiken himself has dabbled in politics — he was the 2014 Democratic nominee in the North Carolina 2nd Congressional District election.
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