Critic’s Notebook: ‘Celebrity Apprentice’: The new presidential platform

Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to run for president after all.

In the wake of Monday’s announcement that the film star / bodybuilder / serial womanizer / former governor of California would be replacing Donald Trump as the host of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” Twitter all but imploded with potential replacements for the show’s tagline of dismissal.

Trump’s “You’re fired!” was re-imagined as “Hasta la vista, baby” or “You won’t be back.”

As fun as it was to salute NBC for finding an even-larger-than-life-and-twice-as-orange replacement for Trump, the political symmetry was too alarming to overlook.

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As recently as 2013, Schwarzenegger spoke openly about his presidential ambitions, even in the wake of a less-than-stellar term as governor, many charges of sexual misconduct and the revelation that he was the father of his former housekeeper’s child -- a secret he had kept from his wife, Maria Shriver.

The couple separated in 2011; a year later, Schwarzenegger’s memoir “Total Recall” was universally panned for being an oblivious and narcissistic attempt to regain his place in the spotlight.

But still he thought he could be president! And perhaps he could have, if only he hadn’t been born in Austria. The Constitution requires that the president be a natural born citizen, which was, if you remember, quite a thing with Trump as well.

Instead, Schwarzenegger will become the next best thing: a TV host, replacing a man who, though also beset over the years by personal scandal and a nasty habit of denigrating women, is unencumbered by issues of citizenry and running for president.

Not just running, but leading in many polls.

The borders between celebrity and politics have always been porous — John Adams complained about the image-driven popularity of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson before there even was a presidency — and television has made it even more so.

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Andy Griffith, who stood for good old American values as much as any one person ever has, made his film debut playing a manipulative but charming drifter who becomes a television host. He then uses the job to gain political power, but is undone after a live microphone allows his followers to hear what he really thinks about them.

Ronald Reagan was the first professional actor to become president, and the ability to play well on television has had a huge impact on every president since John F. Kennedy.

Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign swung the hammer at whatever wall remained between fame and national leadership, and by naming Schwarzenegger as his replacement, NBC kicks away any remaining rubble.

Mr. Universe can become an action movie star and then the governor of California. The former governor of California can then wind up the host of a reality program. A New York real estate scion can go from being a symbol of crass commercialism to one of the most famous brands in the country and the host of a reality television program. The host of a reality television program can then run for president.

But only if he is a natural born citizen. That wall still stands, so far. But if Schwarzenegger kills in the ratings, who knows? The Constitution was written on paper, and who reads anything on paper anymore?

Twitter: @marymacTV

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