Donald Trump (YouTube)
Donald Trump won't let the joke go.
In an interview with "Fox & Friends" on Monday, Trump said he plans to sue Bill Maher over a joke the comedian made last month on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
During his interview with Leno, Maher joked he would donate $5 million to the charity of Trump’s choice if the "Celebrity Apprentice" host could prove he's not the "spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan"—mocking Trump's much-publicized announcement in October that he would donate $5 million to charity if President Barack Obama would release his college and passport records. Through his lawyer, Trump fired off a copy of his birth certificate to Maher along with a letter demanding the money.
“He promised me $5 million for charity if I provided certain information," Trump said on "Fox & Friends" on Monday. "Well, I provided the information, he didn’t pay. So today I sue Bill Maher for $5 million for charity.”
The real estate mogul said he will sue Maher if the "Real Time" host doesn't make good on his pledge by noon.
"I don’t think he was joking," Trump added. "He said it with venom. That was venom. That wasn’t a joke. In fact he was nervous when he said it. It was a pathetic delivery, but he said, 'I will give' and I said I will accept, so let’s see what happens.”
[Related: Trump releases birth certificate to Bill Maher, demands $5M]
In October, Trump announced he had "something very, very big concerning the president of the United States"—something he said could "possibly" change the election—leading to speculation that the 66-year-old might have unearthed scandalous information about Obama.
"Barack Obama is the least transparent president in the history of this country," Trump said in a video shot from his New York office and uploaded to YouTube. "I'm very honored to have gotten him to release his long-form birth certificate or whatever it may be.
"I have a deal for the president," Trump continued. "If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to a charity of his choice—inner-city children in Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS research, anything he wants—a check immediately for $5 million."
Obama was unfazed. On "The Tonight Show," Obama joked to Leno that the bad blood between him and the "Celebrity Apprentice" star "dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya."
This isn't the first time Bill Maher has sparked criticsm: