A war of words between two very public figures (and former friends) is escalating.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate going into the forthcoming November general election, has never had any problem defending himself.
But Trump is also one to swiftly shield his supporters and MAGA voters from establishment media drivel — even if that drivel comes from a former friend.
The former president appeared on a historic episode of the Fox News late-night show “Gutfeld!” for a conversation covering a number of topics.
One of those topics?
The less-than-kind remarks made by former friend and noted shock jock Howard Stern.
On Monday’s episode of Stern’s eponymous show, the longtime radio personality and provocateur offered a blistering take on both Trump and anyone who would dare to support him.
“This whole idea [of] if you like me, you’re good, and if you don’t, you’re bad, I mean, I’ve been the victim of this,” Stern said on his show.
Then came the part where Stern directly declared war on Trump supporters.
“I don’t hate the guy,” Stern said of Trump. “I hate the people who vote for him.”
Stern would go on to call Trump supporters “stupid” and not worthy of any respect whatsoever.
Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of “Gutfeld!” (with Fox News funnyman Greg Gutfeld), Trump rebuked the attacks Stern launched on the former president’s supporters.
After broaching the topic, Gutfeld offered his take first: “My theory is that famous people don’t like it when their fame is put in proper perspective, [especially] when it’s dwarfed by someone with more fame.”
Gutfled then opined that Stern’s attacks on Trump were an “emotional response” that came from a place of insecurity, given that Trump is currently, quite possibly, the most famous last name in the world.
The former president agreed with Gutfeld and then some.
“I was on Howard Stern’s show as much as anybody,” Trump told Gutfeld. “ And he was great at that time. And then he went woke.”
Trump, ever the fan of television ratings, then took another shot — this time where it may hurt Stern most professionally.
“And since he’s gone woke, his ratings have gone down the tubes,” Trump continued. “And he sort of went anti-Trump for a couple of reasons.”
“We had good shows,” Trump said of his past relationship with Stern. “He was good. But he’s changed, and, you know, he doesn’t do the ratings anymore.”
You can watch the whole episode below:
The topic of Stern was mostly left at that, as Trump was then asked if he had any desire to return to reality television.
(Trump oversaw the reality television series “The Apprentice” for over 10 years, and is also a WWE Hall of Famer.)
For his part, Trump doesn’t seem at all interested in returning to the world of serialized television.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
