You can see it, almost: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sitting just a few steps from each other onstage, going at each other’s throats.


Trump cuts in with a threat: “Because you’d be in jail.”

The audience goes wild, collectively gasping, then cheering, either for their audacious, say-it-like-it-is savior, or because they’re just thrilled with the entertainment. Maybe a chair gets thrown.

It’s not hard for Jerry Springer to picture some of the crazier moments from the 2016 presidential election on the set of his eponymous talk show. After all, the Jerry Springer Show traffics in drama and dysfunction, and that ugly scene—minus the chair throwing—played out live at the second presidential debate last week, one of the most brutal in recent history. “I've never had a guest on my show who I thought should be president,” says Springer, laughing. “Ever. Except the guy who married his horse.”

Faced with the prospect of a Trump presidency, Springer, a former Democratic mayor of Cincinnati who once ran for governor of Ohio, has thrown his hat back in the political ring to make the case for Clinton. Last month, he tweeted his assessment of the options facing the American people: “Hillary Clinton belongs in the White House. Donald Trump belongs on my show.”

We’ll let him explain.

GQ: The second debate was one of the most savage—and personal—we’ve ever seen. How much did it remind you of your show?

Jerry Springer: I mean, good God. Other than his money, how in the world is he different than people that are on my show? And that's not trying to be cute. That's the truth. I mean, I think about the issues of the people that come on our show, the language they use, the relationship dysfunctions. You know, other than your net worth, what is the difference, and why do people wind up calling people on my show trash? I've always said that wealthy people haven't cornered the market on propriety or morality or decency. We keep thinking, just because people are poor and maybe didn't go to college or something that all of the sudden they're trash, and then we see this running for president? The behavior's the same.

After the first debate, you tweeted that Trump belongs on your show. In the style of segments like “My Girlfriend is a Man” and “I Married a Horse,” what would you call the episode starring him?

[laughs] Great question. Oh gosh, I’ve gotta think…"I’ll Beat That Blank To The White House."

A hallmark of your show is when people start throwing chairs at each other. Be honest: Do you ever feel like thwacking Trump with a folding chair?

[laughs] Well, I’m nonviolent. I think he wouldn’t come on my show—nothing to do with chairs—he wouldn’t come on my show because he wouldn't want his hair pulled. You know, they're always pulling off the wig? That's why he wouldn't come on the show.

There’s been speculation that Trump is planning a new media empire to capitalize on his momentum after the election. Are you worried he’s going to take your job?

"I'm sorry. I've ruined the culture."

Well he’s far better on television than I am, so I'm not worried, because I'm 73 years old. [phone rings in the background] Some other person calling for money. [laughs] It's funny because, on a side note, and then I'll answer your question, once you're identified as being a Democrat and Hillary supporter, etc., then every Democrat running in the country starts calling you for money.


The problem with him doing my show is you've got to be able to tell the difference between a host and the guests. So they would have to run a graphic, they would have to keep saying, "He's the host, he's the host, he's the host." But other than that, yeah, he's phenomenal on television.

You’re an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter. Aside from “she’s not a demagogue,” what’s your case for her?

Certainly in my lifetime, there’s never been a human being more prepared, and more knowledgeable and more balanced to be president of the United States who hasn't already been one. In other words, when you run for reelection for president, you already know all of the world issues. But for someone who hasn't yet been president, I don't think there's another human being that could sit down with her and would know as much about what's going on in the world, has thought more about all these issues for her whole lifetime, than she has. She really is the most qualified person ever to run for president who hasn't been president before.

And there's no particular benefit for me other than I love my country. I mean, I'm not looking for a political job. I'm literally just a citizen. And I do take it seriously. I'm [from] an immigrant family. So I take the State of Liberty very seriously. I mean, my family was lost in the Holocaust. We believe in the State of Liberty. This was the place we were going to come. And then you have someone running for president who is opposed to the idea [of] America? Religious, ethnic and all that kind of freedom? And wants to replace the State of Liberty with a wall? So I compare that to the qualifications of a Hillary.

You’ve talked about how the election is personal for you. How does it hit home?

Someone comes to me and says, "Well, if you knew Trump, he isn’t personally bigoted." It doesn't matter—that's irrelevant. He’s smart enough to know that he is giving cover, he is giving voice to a very ugly notion that you will be judged in this country based on where you're from and what your religion is, what your ethnicity is, and in some instances, even what your color is. And gender. And your disabilities, if you have any. Well, we all have some disabilities. But it’s, like, oh my god, this is so un-American. It's, like, a cruel irony to say we're going to make America great again. Hey! First understand what America is. That is personal.

You’re the former mayor of Cincinnati. What have you learned about politics in the two decades you’ve been doing your show that you didn't know during your political career?

I always knew we were all alike and the only thing that separated us [is] some of us were luckier in the gene pool of parents, and some of us had more money, and stuff like that. And I saw that in politics, and I see it in the people on my show. ... 99 percent of what we are, we had nothing to do with. Not one person you will ever meet had anything to do with the decision to be born, to whom you'd be born, what kind of health, what kind of brain, what era, what country. None of this stuff. The last one percent of what we become is maybe due to our own efforts. But even that is based on what we were born with. If you understand that, then you will never ever judge people based on what they are. You will only judge people based on what they do.


I guess I kind of knew that all along, and every job I’ve ever had just confirmed what I've always believed, is that human beings are alike. Some are just luckier.

Your show is in its 26th season—

I apologize. [laughs] I'm sorry. I've ruined the culture. I'm so sorry. Oh, please, Rebecca, forgive me.

I forgive you! What’s one moment from this election that would have been way better on your stage?

Well, any of the debates, clearly. And obviously the video. I mean, really. You can’t even make a parody of it anymore. I can't—it's almost, they’re throwing softballs at me. It's, like, "Hey! Here's a show topic, here's a show topic." I mean, I could have done a whole season of shows just on this campaign.

But again, it’s one thing to have a television [show] about that, which is the purpose of the show, to have it about dysfunctional behavior, and another thing to say, "Gee, why doesn't the person on this show run for president?" What? Who thought that was a good idea?

You’ve said Trump’s blurring of politics and entertainment helped propel him to the GOP nomination. Are shows like yours to blame for Trump’s rise?

No, no one show. Lots of people watch the show and behave properly.