Donald Trump: Martin Bashir a 'Low Life'

Donald Trump would utter two words to Martin Bashir if he were in charge of MSNBC: "You're fired!"

The billionaire real estate czar and star of NBC's hit show "The Apprentice" minced no words as he ripped the acerbic political commentator and said he must get the ax for his vulgar comments about Sarah Palin.

"He's a sleazebag, everybody knows it, and he's a lowlife," Trump told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

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"He's a total lowlife and he shouldn't be on."

Last Friday, Bashir called the former Alaska governor and 2008 running mate of John McCain the nation's "resident dunce" and a "world-class idiot" for comparing the national debt to slavery.

He read from the diary of British overseer Thomas Thistlewood, who told of an inhumane form of punishment inflicted on a slave. When Palin invokes slavery, Bashir said, "she doesn't just prove her rank ignorance, she confirms if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, she would be the outstanding candidate."

"That's the kind of thing he would say. He should be fired, there's no question about it, and he wasn't," Trump said.

"Maybe he will be. But that's a terrible thing to say and I know Sarah and she's high quality and for him to make that statement, he should absolutely be fired."

Trump's anger over the Bashir comments is significant because he is one of NBC's biggest stars and NBC and MSNBC share the same parent company.

On Wednesday, one of Bashir's MSNBC colleagues, Joe Scarborough, host of "Morning Joe" also condemned him.

"It was a deplorable thing to say, and he has every reason to be ashamed for saying it," Scarborough told The Steve Malzberg Show.

On Monday, a grim-faced Bashir issued a long mea culpa.

"I wanted to take this opportunity to say sorry to Mrs. Palin, and to also offer an unreserved apology to her friends and family, her supporters, our viewers, and anyone who may have heard what I said," Bashir said.

"My words were wholly unacceptable. They were neither accurate nor fair. They were unworthy of anyone who would claim to have an interest in politics, and they have brought shame upon my friends and colleagues at this network, none of whom were responsible for the things that I said."

But questions have been raised about whether Bashir penned the apology himself.

Following the apology, Scarborough told Malzberg, "I'm glad that he went out and said it, and I will guarantee you he didn't write all that by himself."

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