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Twisted Sister's Dee Snider: Donald Trump 'Nice,' But Too Narcissistic To Be President

"Should he be president? Oh, I don't know about that."

"[Donald Trump] is the Barnum & Bailey of our time," says Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, who should be able to recognize a fellow "master showman" considering his hair metal band similarly took over pop culture in the mid-'80s thanks to their absurd outfits and music videos.

Of course, Snider is not saying this as an observer but as someone who knows Trump personally after appearing more than once on "Celebrity Apprentice." (He didn't last long on the "All-Stars" edition but hey, at least he beat Poison frontman Bret Michaels.)

"He's a really nice guy, especially off-camera, when he's not being The Donald," Snider says. "He's very self-deprecating and when the cameras would be off he'd make jokes about his hair, make jokes about his skin: 'Do I look too orange?' He was very welcoming and kind, but the minute they go, 'Mr. Trump, three.. two.. one...' He puckers the lips and furrows the brow. 'Dee, why shouldn't I fire you?'"

So it's a pro-wrestling-style shtick, which make sense considering Trump is literally in the WWE Hall of Fame. But don't get it twisted, Snider is not saying you should vote for him.

"Should he be president? Oh, I don't know about that. He's a little too much of a narcissist. But he's stirring the pot, that's one thing he's definitely doing, he's shaking it up. I think that's why he's getting ratings he's getting, people are just sick of the status quo," Snider told The Huffington Post Canada.

"Now we have reality politics. The only mistake they made in that Republican [leaders'] debate, someone should have been voted off."

Snider is no stranger to politics, of course. Next month will be the 30-year anniversary of when he battled then-senator Al Gore during an infamous PMRC hearing over rock lyrics. In 2012, Snider again lashed out, this time at vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan for using his hit "We're Not Gonna Take It."

Though Trump is also using the song at his rallies — and Snider admits "I don't know how I feel about that" — he was considerably more adamant when it came to Ryan.

"I am pro-choice to the core," he says, "and Paul Ryan was anti-choice on every level and I couldn't stand hearing the song with someone who was so diametrically opposed to where I was at. I wrote to him: 'The first line of the song is we've got the right to choose! What don't you get about those words?'"

One politician Snider unequivocally supports is President Barack Obama, who he says he proudly voted for.

"Hell yeah, twice," he says. "Given what he's been up against, he's done incredibly and I think that when the dust settles and we look back at history, it will give him a lot of credit. We are out of the financial crisis that Bush set in place. Obamacare, one day it will be badge of honour that they named it after him. My sons, they have health coverage." Friends of mine, average Joes and Janes, they have health coverage."

"Given what he was fighting against, this political system where you just say no for the sake of saying no. Politically it's a sad time, but in retrospect Obama did the best he could have done and will be remembered positively for his work."

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