Michael Moore: I Know for a Fact Trump's Run Was a Ploy

You've just got to trust him on this one: Donald Trump never wanted to be president and is sabotaging his own campaign, which Michael Moore says he “knows for a fact”—though he won't say how. In a blog post on his website, Moore writes that the campaign was originally a ploy to nail down a better deal for The Apprentice. Unhappy with NBC’s offer, Trump “had floated the idea” of running for president on the assumption that the increased spotlight on him would strengthen his hand. But Trump knew "that saying you’re going to do something is bupkus—DOING it is what makes the bastards sit up and pay attention." And so he went all in, only to find his relationship with NBC severed after his comments about Mexican immigrants. But he kept at it, writes Moore, so rival networks could see his "value."

Trump began racking up primary wins, and Moore writes the awakening came after the New Jersey primary win. "You can see the moment it finally dawned on him … that 'Oh s---!' revelation: 'I’m actually going to be the Republican nominee—and my rich beautiful life is f#*@ing over!'" Moore ends with a theory: that Trump’s "meltdown of the past three weeks [see this and this, per Moore] was no accident." Rather than lose to Hillary Clinton, Trump would rather tank his own campaign, perhaps allowing him to "blame 'others' for forcing him out," Moore writes. "Maybe it’s all part of his new strategy to get the hell out of a race he never intended to see through to its end anyway.” Read the full post here. (More Donald Trump stories.)