It appears that former President Trump now has enough time on his hands to cancel a show business union membership even with his fast-approaching second impeachment trial less than a week away.
Trump on Thursday resigned his membership from the entertainment and media union SAG-AFTRA after the union’s national board found “probable cause” that the former president, who had been a member for more than 30 years, had “violated the union’s Constitution” after inciting the deadly Capitol insurrection last month. The board ordered a hearing by SAG-AFTRA’s Disciplinary Committee, which would give Trump the boot from the union if found guilty.
The SAG-AFTRA national board took aim at Trump for “sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members.”
On Thursday, Trump took it upon himself to declare his resignation from SAG-AFTRA in a letter addressed to union president Gabrielle Carteris. The former president addressed the impending hearing by SAG-AFTRA’s Disciplinary Committee succinctly.
“I write to you today regarding the so-called Disciplinary Committee hearing aimed at revoking my union membership. Who cares!” Trump wrote.
Trump proceeded to brag about his brief cameos in film and television, which include “Zoolander” and “Home Alone 2.” Leave it to Trump to also plug his reality show “The Apprentice” as well.
“While I’m not familiar with your work, I’m very proud of my work on movies such as Home Alone 2, Zoolander and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; and television shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saturday Night Live, and of course, one of the most successful shows in television history, The Apprentice – to name just a few!” Trump said.
In true Trumpian fashion, he also bragged about how he “greatly helped” cable news networks by painting himself as a savior of their ratings, even if he views those networks as “fake news.”
“I’ve also greatly helped the cable news television business (said to be a dying platform with not much time left until I got involved in politics), and created thousands of jobs at networks such as MSDNC and Fake News CNN, among many others,” Trump wrote.
Trump then attacked the union by accusing it of a “blatant attempt at free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union.”
After complaining that SAG-AFTRA only collects dues and promotes “dangerous un-American policies and ideas,” Trump accused the union of “policy failures” and its disciplinary “failures” being “even more egregious.”
“I no longer wish to be associated with your union. As such, this letter is to inform you of my immediate resignation from SAG-AFTRA,” Trump wrote. “You have done nothing for me.”
SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris and national executive director David White responded to Trump’s resignation in a statement by simply writing: “Thank you.”
On Thursday, House impeachment managers also invited the Mar-a-Lago resident to testify at his own impeachment trial next week.
In a letter to the former president, lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) offered Trump the opportunity to “provide testimony under oath” given that he has disputed “factual allegations” about his conduct leading to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection attempt and on the day of.
Read Trump’s resignation from SAG-AFTRA below:
Trump sent this letter to SAG-AFTRA to submit his resignation from the union representing Radio, TV and movie personalities. He mentions his film work in such movies as Home Alone 2 and Zoolander. pic.twitter.com/EdxaZipxqg
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 4, 2021
