President Donald Trump’s staff may have made a mistake by engaging in a tit-for-tat battle with a Hollywood veteran.
With his polling numbers dwindling ahead of next month’s midterm elections, the 80-year-old Republican got brutally mocked on live television.
One TV legend found a sneaky way to get under the Trump administration’s skin on CBS’ network.
Chuck Lorre is the creative force behind hit sitcoms such as “Dharma & Greg,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “The Big Bang Theory.” He served as a producer on “Roseanne,” starring Trump-loving comedian Roseanne Barr.
Lorre, 73, also created “The Big Bang Theory” prequel “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.” He used its Season 3 premiere to send Trump a post-show message.
The back-and-forth erupted when Lorre criticized Trump while accepting the Founders Award at a Sept. 26 Project Angel Food fundraiser in Los Angeles.
He said he yearned for “a more compassionate government” before calling the president a “bloated orange piece of s**t in the White House.” Lorre also reportedly called Melania “a surgically enhanced, cold-hearted Yugoslavian escort,” prompting a White House spokesperson to fire back.
“Chuck Lorre should immediately seek psychiatric help to treat his severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has completely rotted his peanut-sized brain,” Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital.
Just days later, Lorre took the bait and used those words in the closing shot of the latest “Georgie & Mandy’s” episode, which aired on Oct. 8.
“A spokesperson for the White House recently announced that I need psychiatric help. I don’t disagree,” Lorre wrote on the post-credit vanity card.
The note resumed, “I’m not a big fan of mood-altering drugs or electroshock therapy, you know, ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ stuff, but I would be up for a chat with a trained professional who gently encourages me to seek out childhood experiences that negatively impact my thinking and behavior.”
Lorre then offered tongue-in-cheek explanations for his “derangement.” He suggested atomic bomb drills in grade school and environmental toxins as possible causes for his apparent irrational obsession with Trump.
“Regardless of how we proceed, I do appreciate this very public concern for my mental health. It’s comforting to know my government is looking out for me,” Lorre sarcastically ended his statement.
Social media met that sarcasm with both kudos and indignation. Facebook users shared their takes on the Golden Globe Award winner returning fire at Trump and his aides.
“I bet he made Trump cry. I mean, Chuck is such a man,” one commenter wrote. A second person posted, “Clever writing by Lorre with subtle digs at our government… I love it!!”
Other positive reactions included someone declaring, “Chuck Lorre is brilliant!”
In contrast, MAGA had more negative feedback for the cheeky “Georgie & Mandy’s” vanity card bit trolling Trump. One person fired back, “Too bad no one saw it. Who watches TV anymore?” Another said, “No one is watching, Chuckie!”
Chuck Lorre Productions’ 789th post-episode message will likely be a memorable one.
Lorre’s numbered vanity card lore dates back to “Dharma & Greg” in 1997. Episodes of his various sitcoms would end with commentary about politics, the entertainment industry, and deceased performers.
“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” airs on CBS on Thursdays at 8 pm ET. Montana Jordan and Emily Osment lead as Georgie Cooper and Amanda “Mandy” McAllister, while Rachel Bay Jones and Will Sasso play Mandy’s parents.
