Shockingly, Donald Trump is not taking Bill Cosby's attacks on his potential presidential campaign lightly.
The "Celebrity Apprentice" honcho has issued a scathing response, after beloved comic and pudding-pop pitchman Cosby trash-talked Trump on "Today" last week.
On Friday's episode of "Today," Cosby opined that Trump was "full of it" with regard to the election, and should "run or shut up."
That didn't sit well with the real estate mogul-turned-politico, who fired off a poison-penned missive on Monday that characterized Cosby as a two-faced back-stabber who had "hatred…pouring out of his eyes" when he made his comments.
According to the Donald's statement, he's mystified by Cosby's remarks, as the two of them have always enjoyed pleasant exchanges when they've met in the past. He also claims that he can't formally declare his candidacy until his "Celebrity Apprentice" finishes its current season.
Trump, who's mulling a run on the Republican ticket, goes on to accuse Cosby of bias because, presumably, he's a supporter of President Barack Obama.
"If [Bill] doesn’t want me to run because he’s obviously an Obama fan, he should state the reasons and not … treat me like his best friend, only to denigrate me when I’m not around," Trump says.
And to give the knife one final twist, Trump accuses Cosby of flinging dirt in order to regain relevance in the Donald's spotlight.
Ouch! Maybe Trump has the stomach for national politics after all. Now he just needs to work on the hair.
Read Trump's full statement below.
April 11, 2011
The other day on The Today Show, right after I was interviewed by Meredith Vieira, a terrific person and reporter, I happened to watch Bill Cosby who was on at the end of the show. While I have never been a fan of Cosby’s, I had always assumed he liked or respected me because every time I met him—the last time at the David Letterman show where I preceded him as a guest—he was always so nice, saying “let’s get together”—asking me out to dinner, and being polite to the point of offering to buy me a suit because he has a “great tailor.”
In any event, as I watched the show, the subject of Donald Trump came up. I was surprised to hear him blabber, somewhat incoherently “you run or shut up.” The hatred was pouring out of his eyes when he said this. As I am sure he must know I cannot run until this season of Celebrity Apprentice ends. I know that he has taken a lot of heat over the years in that he seems to be talking down to the people he’s talking to and purportedly trying to help. Actually, based on the way he acted, things are not looking too good for Cosby.
I wish he would be more honest, and if he doesn’t want me to run because he’s obviously an Obama fan, he should state the reasons and not come into my “green room” in front of numerous witnesses and treat me like his best friend, only to denigrate me when I’m not around. Sadly, he got more attention talking about me than he did on the merits of his own appearance—maybe he is not as dumb as I thought.
