On Monday morning Donald Trump made a brief but memorable MSNBC appearance in which he attacked Karl Rove and Jon Huntsman, discussed his birther beliefs and got into a fight with Chuck Todd.
Todd asked Trump about the GOP presidential debate he plans to moderate on Dec. 27, pointing out that it has only one confirmed attendee, Newt Gingrich. Trump said that most of the important candidates will come, and he does not expect to see "joke candidate" Jon Huntsman, whose religion he made into a punchline.
"Mr. Huntsman called my office a number of times trying to set up a meeting," Trump said. "I didn't have a meeting with him. And then he went on the debate and he said 'I didn't meet with Mr. Trump like everyone else in the room.' I'm sure he'll tell the truth about that because he's a Mormon."
Huntsman's spokesperson tells ThinkProgress, "You'll be surprised to find out that it's Mr. Trump who is not telling the truth. We never requested a meeting. We are focused on issues that matter not presidential apprentice."
Huntsman had his own response to Trump on FOX News Monday: "I'm not going to kiss his ring and I'm not going to kiss any other part of his anatomy."
Trump went on to attack Karl Rove, who recently called for the RNC Chairman to discourage the candidates from attending Trump's debate and dismissed the reality television mogul's moderation role as a "giant ego trip." Trump said Monday on MSNBC that 'The Celebrity Apprentice' is so popular that he has no need for that sort of publicity stunt.
"My show would be renewed any time I wanted," he said. "NBC is dying to renew me so i don't need this. I don't need to be doing this to get my show...he made that up as he made many things up. Karl Rove gave us George Bush and George Bush crashed and burned and because of that we have Obama. The Republicans need to get rid of Karl Rove and they need fresh blood because Karl Rove is going to lead them into doom."
Trump also said that despite his obsession with Obama's birth certificate, he will focus his debate on more meaningful issues, like jobs.
"Whether or not he was born here, to me it means something," he said. "I guess it doesn't mean a lot to a lot of people. The fact that they can't find any records that his mother was in the hospital, that to me means something, but I guess a lot of people don't care."
Whether Trump will throw his own hat in the ring again for president remains to be seen.
"I absolutely have another bite," he said of the prospect of running as an independent. "If the economy continues to be bad and if the Republicans choose the wrong person, I would do it."