House Democrat Busts Out ‘Apprentice’ Clips During Hearing in Direct Plea to Trump to Fire Noem

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL ) referenced President Donald Trump’s previous role on The Apprentice during a congressional hearing Wednesday to advocate for the firing of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The tactics used during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown have been loudly criticized and sparked nationwide protests and multiple court challenges, especially after two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis: Renee Good on Jan. 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

Recently, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino was removed from overseeing the operations in Minnesota and sent back to California, with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan sent to replace him. Noem’s announcement Monday that her agency would be “deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis…[e]ffective immediately” satisfied a key demand from protesters and Democratic members of Congress, but has failed to quell the ongoing anger and frustration at the administration’s immigration policies.

Wednesday, Moskowitz urged the president to bring back his infamous “You’re fired!” tagline from The Apprentice.

Moskowitz mentioned that Noem was scheduled to appear before the committee in a month but he did not think she should come, arguing that she should instead be fired beforehand.

He then listed multiple members of Congress — from both parties — who were calling for Noem to be fired, noted how Trump had skipped calling on her in a recent Cabinet meeting. “She was the only secretary he didn’t allow to talk! It’s time to fire her. Why hasn’t it happened?”

Moskowitz encouraged his fellow committee members to follow him down “memory lane,” and brought up Trump’s reality show fame.

“We need Apprentice Trump,” he said. “Where is that guy?”

“Look, let me remind him what he used to be real quick,” he continued, cuing up audio of Trump saying, “You’re fired, you’re all fired,” repeatedly.

“Where is that guy? What happened to him?” Moskowitz continued, talking about how Trump had “one of the most popular TV shows” where “people tuned in weekly” to watch him fire “the weakest link of your team,” and “people loved it” as Trump “made millions of dollars firing people for a living.”

“But now somebody convinced you that firing people is weakness,” Moskowitz said. “That’s why ratings are down, Mr. President.”

He urged Trump to visualize a scene he predicted would be “must-watch TV” that “tens of millions of people would tune in,” as he brought Noem “into your little conference room…and you fire her, right there, on TV!”

“Oh! The ratings would be through the roof! Think about the hat she would wear — I mean, it would be majestic!” he said, before playing a video that spliced clips from Noem’s past testimony with clips of Trump firing someone from The Apprentice.

“That’s how that would look!” Moskowitz declared triumphantly.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!