Accomplished impressionist and billionaire Donald Trump lampooned CNBC anchor John Harwood on Tuesday.
Trump delivered an impression of Harwood, who was widely panned for his inept performance as moderator at last week’s GOP debate.
"I think debating is a good thing. It’s healthy, it gets things into the open. But you don’t want someone like Harwood that reads a question, ‘Buh buh buh buh,’ that he carefully wrote," Trump said, pretending to read off a sheet of questions just like Harwood did last week.
Trump followed up his devastating impression of Harwood with an assessment of his performance. Harwood, Trump said, is a "disgrace to CNBC" who is "not very good at what he does.
"His career—in my opinion—his career is probably ruined or certainly threatened," Trump said.
If Trump’s predictions are as good as his impressions, Harwood’s days at CNBC are numbered.
Transcript below:
DONALD TRUMP: Now, that was staged by the Democrats. Frankly, they did a very smart thing in the way they staged it. We're going to stage something properly also. As far as I'm concerned, I really don't care that much. I just want a debate. I think debating is a good thing. It's healthy, it gets everything into the open. But you don't want people like Harwood that read a question, ‘Buh buh buh buh,’ that he carefully wrote. He thought he was such—his career—in my opinion—his career is probably ruined or certainly threatened.
…
They weren't questions, they were statements. You see, they were asking—they were giving statements in a sarcastic, disgusting way. By the way, I think Becky is terrific and I think Carl is terrific, but I think John Harwood is not very good at what he does. I think Becky Quick is a terrific person. I think Carl is a terrific person, but I will tell you, John Harwood was a disgrace to CNBC .