Donald Trump is reportedly daring MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell to put his money where his mouth is, after the network pundit called him a liar Thursday morning about his earnings from NBC's hit series "The Apprentice."
"The Trump Challenge" came after O'Donnell and "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough got into a heated argument over
Trump's financial disclosure statement Wednesday,
in which the presidential candidate declared he earned nearly $213 million from NBC Universal during his 14 years of hosting "The Apprentice."
Story continues below video.
"He said he wants to bet a certain host on MSNBC that came on and called him a liar — and if Donald Trump is not telling the truth about how much money he made off of 'The Apprentice,' then he will give said host one year's salary," said Scarborough.
"If he is telling the truth, then said host owes Donald Trump a year of his television salary."
The challenge, which Trump has not yet mentioned on his own Twitter page, came during a break, Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski said, when Trump called in to place his bet.
The argument started during a panel discussion on the morning show concerning Trump's poll ratings and financial disclosures.
"We hear a story of how incoherent Donald Trump is, what a buffoon he is, what a blowhard Donald Trump is," said Scarborough. "And if you look and see what his salary is from NBC from yesterday's financial disclosures …"
"It's a complete total lie," said O'Donnell, who hosts the MSNBC prime-time show "The Last Word."
"That's a lie. Let me explain something here. Donald Trump didn't even make $1 million for his first year. Joe, NBC, the last time Trump said this is how much money I'm making from NBC, NBC was forced to release a statement saying he is lying. That's what they said. When he said last time that he was making $130 million for two years of an NBC show which no one has made ... he was a hired hand."
Further, O'Donnell claimed that Trump did not make any profit from the Mark Burnett-produced show, but instead, Burnett owned it.
"There is not much profit," he argued. "TV is the rerun business, syndication business. Trump has been one of the lowest paid people to have an hourlong show on NBC."
O'Donnell went on to argue that "The Apprentice" "has been a declining show" after having its initial two good years.
"Every actor you can name on television, if you can name them, I guarantee you they made more money than Donald Trump," said O'Donnell. "He made $50,000 an episode the first season. He made $100,000 an episode for the next two seasons, Joe. That is when it was at the highest rating. He was a hired hand. He was relatively low paid."
Scarborough wasn't buying the argument for a second, pointing out that Trump had a hit prime-time show on NBC for a decade, telling O'Donnell that he "can just keep rambling and being as condescending" as he wanted.
"He is so twisted up that he is saying the guy that has a prime-time show on a major network is a sucker that makes no money," Scarborough said.
And while Scarborough was laughing, O'Donnell, who left after the spat and did not return to the program, took the argument to Twitter in a series of indignant tweets:
Watch the video here.
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