On His New Show, Tom Arnold Takes Aim at President Trump

Roseanne Barr's ex-husband is on a quest to find evidence against the president.

tom arnold
Tom Arnold discusses 'The Hunt For The Trump Tapes' onstage during The 2018 Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for A+E Networks )
Getty Images for A+E Networks

Tom Arnold is on a “reckless, friendship-straining, marriage-testing, one-man mission to save the world from a former acquaintance who is now president of the United States,” according to Rolling Stone. 

He is consumed by the hunt, it seems, and since he has a fair amount of free time, he channels his moral outrage and general obsessiveness into the task. For a while, Arnold, who is the ex-husband of Roseanne Barr, and Trump were at the “same level of Hollywood.” They got to know each other in 1990, taping an HBO comedy special in Atlantic City.

“If that loser can become president,” Arnold said to Rolling Stone, “this loser can take him down.”

Arnold says he is willing to move the story forward no matter what, making his methods for his show not exactly a model of journalism. But the increasing visibility of his attacks are notable, and the president has yet to mention his old acquaintance in a single tweet. So the question is: Does Arnold’s quixotic quest matter for anything beyond ratings?

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.