- The Washington Times - Monday, July 30, 2018

Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” fame says there is a simple reason why President Donald Trump was victorious in the 2016 election: “He understands who’s watching and he understands what’s happening.”

America’s “everyman” recently sat down with Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire, for a wide-ranging interview for the website’s “Sunday Special.” He used a story regarding his mikeroweWORKS Foundation to explain why Mr. Trump — and not Sen. Bernard Sanders or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — now resides in the White House.

Mr. Rowe said that he jokingly called out the trio when his CNN show at the time, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It,” was forced to move to TBN due to election coverage.

“I basically said to Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, ’Nice going, guys. You just got my show booted off the network. I’ll forgive you if each of you will make a donation to my foundation,” the celebrity said. “’What I’m looking for from you, Bernie, is your — one of those crumpled, you know, suit coats you always wear. Send that to me and I’ll auction it off. Hillary, send me one of your pant suits, right?’ And I said to Trump, I said ’send me one of your bathrobes and an autograph. You know, a bathrobe out here.’ So, heard nothing from Bernie Sanders. Heard nothing from Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump sent me an autographed bathrobe.”

The host, who now helms a Facebook show called “Returning the Favor,” said he received $18,000 for the robe during his cheekily-named Collectibles, Rare and Precious (C.R.A.P.) auction.

“I got a lot of heat for wearing a Donald Trump bathrobe. I don’t care. The money went straight to the work ethic scholarship program,” he continued. “The moral of the story is he understands who’s watching and he understands what’s happening. … I don’t need to say anything to get myself in more hot water. He sent the robe. Nobody else did, and I really didn’t expect him to. But a deal’s a deal.”


SEE ALSO: Mike Rowe responds to ‘ultra-right wing’ charge, attempt to sink ‘How the Universe Works’ job


Mr. Rowe said that Mr. Trump’s gesture resonates with the people he’s met over the course of 10 years filming shows such as “Dirty Jobs” and “Somebody’s Gotta Do It.”

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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