A winking John Berman on Monday used only a little subtlety as he mocked
Donald Trump for his "enormous" "size." The Good Morning America
reporter turned financial comments by the businessman into something
more low class: "We know he has a big ego, but he swears he has big ideas and also an enormous, well, see for yourself."
He then played a clip of Trump boasting about himself: "Much bigger
and much more powerful, much stronger than anyone really knows." Berman
jokingly questioned, "Really? Compared to, say, Mitt Romney..."
An ABC graphic hinted, "Size Matters."
The humor, which one might associate more with an American Pie movie than a newscast, continued:
DONALD TRUMP: I'm going to have a much, much bigger-
JOHN BERMAN: A bigger what, you might ask?
TRUMP: Net worth.
After getting over that particular joke, Berman played another snippet
of Trump claiming he loves America. The reporter mocked, "The totally
selfless Donald Trump."
A transcript of the April 18 segment, which aired at 7:13 EDT, follows:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now to the latest twist in Donald Trump's potential residential run. Top Republicans like Karl Rove still calling it a joke, but Politico reports that Trump is now talking to potential campaign managers and pollsters and taking on not only President Obama, but the Republican challengers already in the race. John Berman is on the Trump beat for us. And, John, he was keeping you busy..
JOHN BERMAN: Yeah. No kidding, George. You know, Donald Trump is on TV. He's on the stump. And now he's at the top of Republican primary polls. We know he has a big ego, but he swears he has big ideas and also an enormous, well, see for yourself. Donald Trump's new message. Size matters. His is-
DONALD TRUMP: Much bigger and much more powerful, much stronger than anyone really knows.
BERMAN: Really? Compared to, say, Mitt Romney, Trump insists-
TRUMP: I'm going to have a much, much bigger-
BERMAN: A bigger what, you might ask?
TRUMP: Net worth.
BERMAN: That's right, after weeks of attacks about the Democratic President's birthplace, now he's attack Republican Mitt Romney's bank account. Estimated at several hundred million dollars.
TRUMP: I mean, my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney.
BERMAN: Trump is everywhere now, including, stunningly, sitting at the top of Republican primary polls. And this weekend, at a Tea Party rally in Florida.
TRUMP: We're fast becoming a country of broken dreams.
BERMAN: His stump speech includes bold statements about his business acumen.
TRUMP: I bought a house in bankruptcy court for $41 million and sold it a fairly short time later for almost $100 million.
BERMAN: And perhaps bizarre statements about New York's airports, where he lands his private jet.
TRUMP: And it's like coming into a third world country when I land at LaGuardia.
BERMAN: And he continues his much criticized, and most would say false, rant about the President's birthplace.
TRUMP: Obama is unwilling or unable to show his birth certificate.
BERMAN: To which most analysts say-
TRUMP: His full embrace of the birther issue means he's off there in the nutty right and is now an inconsequential candidate.
BERMAN: But Trump swears he's doing this all for love, love of America.
TRUMP: So, I don't do it for myself. I'll be doing it for the country.
BERMAN: The totally selfless Donald Trump. Though his show put out a press release saying that on the final episode, he might set a date where he could announce his candidacy's for president. But, that couldn't be about ratings. Today, the New York Times reports Trump's Apprentice bosses at NBC say they doubt he will run. They say this is just about the Donald being Donald.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's their doubts. But, if he does run, they're probably going to have to take Celebrity Apprentice off the air, have someone come in. Because remember Fred Thompson on Law and Order when he said he was going to run. Even the reruns had to come off the air.
BERMAN: Exactly. A lot of questions for him.
- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here [1] to follow him on Twitter.