It's never a good idea to rag on a film you haven't seen before it's released

 But that's what Steven Cheung, Donald Trump's press shill, did after the movie, "The Apprentice", which takes its title from Trump's NBC reality series from a few years ago, opened at the Cannes Film Festival the other day.

Here's what Cheung has said:

"This ‘film' is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn't even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire." 

That, Mr. Cheung, would be putting the cart before the horse. "The Apprentice" details the early years of Trump's business career under the tutelage of right wing lawyer Roy Cohn. Sebastian Stan (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier) and Jeremy Strong (Succession) are the stars. The film received an 8 minute standing ovation at Cannes, so why is Cheung complaining?

Before we get to that, let's consider that it's doubtful Cheung or anyone else in the former president's inner circle has actually screened the movie. Trump, obviously, hasn't, as he's been busy with a court case in Manhattan over the last few weeks, and the filmmakers have said that Trump would actually be surprised by the final product, which is reportedly set to show up on a streaming platform later this summer. "The Apprentice", as yet, does not have a distributor.

What Cheung is expecting, I think, is this:

No guarantee that'll actually happen. The film chronicles how Trump allegedly raped his first wife, Ivana, in the late 80's, though Ivana herself backtracked from that in 2015. Cheung has threatened a lawsuit on behalf of Trump, but don't expect it to actually go anywhere. Cheung thinks he knows how Trump thinks and how he would react, and a lot of the statements he's made suggest he is parroting a lot of the former president's talking points, but this time, he jumped the gun way too early.

That said, Cheung ends up with a set of Weasel ears for taking umbrage over something he hasn't seen. We should point out that former Washington Commanders owner Daniel "Napoleon" Snyder, who was part of the investment group that funded the movie, is also raging against it because of his own friendship with Trump. You can't have it both ways, fella. You've got your own burdens.