Is there such thing as a president-elect equivalent of the “October surprise?” Because if so, one comedian allegedly has his finger on the trigger.
Earlier this month, talk of the infamous “Trump tapes” resurfaced when actor and comedian Tom Arnold told a Seattle radio show that he’s in possession of old Apprentice footage in which then-host, now President-elect Donald Trump allegedly used racist and sexist slurs. Then on Christmas Day, Arnold posted a Twitter thread directed at actor Michael Rapaport that detailed why they haven’t been released.
1. I’m going 2 explain cause I know U rode Trump’s butt for the 5 yrs it took him 2 confirm Obama’s legitimacy. I received tape via program https://t.co/scvnHYpEuV
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
This is the first time the “tapes” subject has majorly resurfaced since Trump won the 2016 election. Coverage of the Trump tapes initially spiked after the Washington Post published a 2005 Access Hollywood audio recording of Trump saying he can do anything he wants to women because of his fame, such as “grab them by the pussy.”
Amid reporting of the original hot-mic recording were rumors that footage “far worse” existed, including tapes of Trump using the N-word. However, the release of such footage appeared compromised by lawsuit threats and preexisting confidentiality agreements.
Though a former producer from the reality television series and other TV executives acknowledged the existence of such footage, no one came forward at the time. Even entrepreneur Mark Cuban‘s offer to pay the $5 million leak fee for the tapes didn’t help the discovery process, nor did a GoFundMe campaign aimed to unearth the footage.
During Arnold’s interview with KIRO Radio, however, the entertainer revealed his possession of the tapes while discussing the new Apprentice host, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In his admission, Arnold said he’s known Trump for 30 years and has Apprentice outtakes in which the president-elect has said “every bad thing ever, every dirty, offensive, racist thing ever.” Arnold’s admission went as follows:
“I’ll tell you why [the footage hasn’t been leaked]. Because when the people sent it to me, it was funny. Hundreds of people have seen these. It was sort of a Christmas video they put together. He wasn’t going to be President of the United States. It was him sitting in that chair saying the N-word, saying the C-word, calling his son a retard, just being so mean to his own children. ‘Oh, this is so funny, this is this guy.’ The Sunday before the election, I get a call from Arnold’s CAA agent, sitting next to Hillary Clinton. They said, ‘I need you to release him saying the N-word.’ I said, ‘Well, now these people—two editors and an associate producer—are scared to death. They’re scared of his people, they’re scared of they’ll never work again, there’s a $5 million confidentiality agreement.’”
The evening after the interview aired, Arnold tweeted that Trump’s people had threatened a suit against him, though a source familiar with the situation told Mediaite that Trump’s camp wasn’t behind the alleged call.
Wife told me there’s house line VM from Trump Camp about defamation suit so it’s on! Open Apprentice vaults 4 discovery! Miss Universe too!!
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 21, 2016
Days later Arnold expanded upon the footage in a 14-part Twitter thread directed at Rapaport that also mentioned Russia, a playmate girlfriend, and the alt-right.
1. I’m going 2 explain cause I know U rode Trump’s butt for the 5 yrs it took him 2 confirm Obama’s legitimacy. I received tape via program https://t.co/scvnHYpEuV
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
2. Used in our biz 2 prevent piracy. Had a limited time password. When I received no one thought Trump would be Pres. When it became real https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
3. People got scared. Can’t blame them. Me & my fam get threatened by Alt Right nuts a lot plus only Billy Bush’s career was hurt by “grab https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
4. Her by the pussy” tape. Normally I don’t think a persons private life should affect job. Didn’t say anything about Natl Enquirer paying https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
5. Off Trumps playmate girlfriends. Plus he’d always been nice to me but he became a bully. John McCain’s POW heroism, Cruz’s dad killing https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
6. JFK Etc. Not the guy I knew & he was stoking racism. Lying. Basically saying anything to get elected contradicting himself. Then the https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
7. Russian hack happened. That and him lying about releasing his taxes. I knew he’d spoken to Putin 2013 in Moscow during Miss Universe https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
8. Contest from NBC guy that was with him. I shot a movie “produced” by one of his bus partners & Putin pal. Very chatty. This was 2015 so https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
9. Of course he didn’t think he was telling tales about what happened in 2013 to a US President. You have to see his taxes. These tapes https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
10. Are disgusting but not illegal. I’m not going to out the little guy but I personally confronted 7 powerful Hollywood people who have https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
11. Everything. They hate me now. Terrible career move but I believe if Russia has something they can blackmail our president with its worth https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
12. The risk to me. Plus I’m a 57 year old father of 1 & 3 yr olds. I want to do all I can so there’s a safe America for them. Call me & I https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
13. Will give you the names of the 7 big shots and you can risk your livelihood and confront them too. All will be reviewed soon. Smart https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
14. Watergate level journalists are ontop of this. https://t.co/scvnHY836l
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) December 26, 2016
The following day Rapaport addressed a conversation that he and Arnold had about the tapes.
I wanna say I spoke to @TomArnold in private & as much as
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) December 26, 2016
I Want Dem Tapes,this isn’t as easy as one would think & it’s not over.
At least we can rest easy knowing that with less than a month until the president-elect’s inauguration, this alleged tape scandal is far from finished.
Representatives for Arnold and Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
H/T Death and Taxes
