NBC To Donald Trump: You’re Fired
Following up on the disputes with Univision that arose in the wake of Donald Trump’s derogatory comments toward Mexican immigrants, NBC Universal has cut its ties with Donald Trump:
Amid mounting public pressure, NBCUniversal announced Monday that it will cut business ties with Donald Trump due to “recent derogatory statements” the Republican presidential hopeful made regarding Mexican immigrants.
“At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values,” the network’s statement reads. “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.”
“To that end, the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants, which are part of a joint venture between NBC and Trump, will no longer air on NBC,” the statement continues. “In addition, as Mr. Trump has already indicated, he will not be participating in ‘The Apprentice’ on NBC.
NBC’s announcement comes four days after Univision announced it would end its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization based on what it described as Trump’s “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants.” Trump subsequently promised to sue the Spanish-language broadcaster for breach of contract and defamation, and banned Univision employees from his Miami Doral golf resort.
By Monday morning, more than 200,000 people had signed a Change.org petitioncalling on NBCUniversal to cut its ties with Trump and cancel the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which are co-owned by Trump and NBC, as well as “The Apprentice,” which Trump hosts. The petition accused NBC of “supporting a hateful and narcissistic individual without any kind of values” and “supporting a growing trend of bigotry and division in this country.”
NBC licenses The Apprentice through a deal with a production company owned by Mark Burnett, who created that show along with Survivor, so theoretically that property could continue although it’s unclear if the network has any plans to actually do that. The last season of the show aired in January in a rapidly accelerated season to what were apparently lackluster ratings, so perhaps there really isn’t much of a loss there for NBC in any case. At the very least, though, this announcement would seem to put to rest the rumor that Trump himself helped to feed that perhaps one or more of his children would host the show while he was running for President. In any event, it’s obvious that the show itself probably would not have aired at all while Trump was running and, indeed, it is not currently listed on NBC’s fall schedule.
Trump, of course, responded as only Trump can:
Donald Trump called NBCUniversal “weak” and “foolish” on Monday and said its decision to violate its contract with the Miss Universe Organization will be determined in a court of law.
(…)
In Monday’s statement, Trump doubled down on his commitment to “strong borders” that would keep illegal immigrants from “pouring across our borders unabated. Public reports routinely state great amounts of crime are being committed by illegal immigrants,” he said. “This must be stopped and it must be stopped now.”
“Long ago I told NBC that I would not being doing The Apprentice because I am running for President in order to Make our Country Great Again,” Trump continued. “If NBC is so weak and so foolish to not understand the serious illegal immigration problem in the United States, coupled with the horrendous and unfair trade deals we are making with Mexico, then their contract violating closure of Miss Universe/Miss USA will be determined in court.”
Trump also took a shot at NBCUniversal over its handling of the recent Brian Williams controversy: “They will stand behind lying Brian Williams,” he said, “but won’t stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be.”
An NBCUniversal spokesperson declined to comment on Trump’s statement.
Trump also addressed NBC’s decision at a press conference in Chicago on Monday, where he cast the move as a mutual decision: “I think as far as ending the relationship, I have to do that,” he said.’
I suppose the extraordinary thing is that all of this is happening in the middle of a Presidential campaign and that, so far at least, Trump seems to be rising in the polls. Sometimes I wonder if the people who are telling pollsters that they would vote for Trump are all just part of a massive practical joke.
The massive practical joke is trump himself. However I’ve had the same thought (about recent polls)
I wonder how much of a hit that questionable column labeled “brand” in Trump’s net worth is going to take as a result of his entering the race?
As for the polls, you’ve been around the Internet enough to know that Trump isn’t really saying a whole lot that’s different from what much of the Republican base spouts off on almost a daily basis. It’s hardly surprising that he might do well in their primaries.
I fired NBC news (and MSNBC – a joke) some time ago. A shameless entertainment, propaganda show that is on the level of Springer – at least he is honest about what his show is. Professional journalism, respect, objectivity, thought, and credibility – NBC has not been any of that in years. Only Matthews approaches what the news professional should be. There was a time when the rest of them would not even been allowed in the parking lot. NBC chooses its issue of the week and goes overboard on one sided “reporting”. The others – ABC and ABC are not much better. CNN is a joke. David Brinkley would be shocked at what goes on at NBC now. I am not a fan of Trump. He hollars fire, and then runs out the door. I watch Al Jam occasionally, and PBS. The rest I get on the am stations, down at the local morning coffee stop, and a cb radio. I can get more reliable news from truck drivers.
Any network that puts Al Sharpton on anything other than car dealer commercials has lost touch completely.
@Tyrell:
Tweety? Seriously?
Well, it looks like Trump now has plenty of time to complete and submit his federal financial disclosure forms.
@al-Ameda: I’m beginning to think he may be serious about the Presidency after all. Beginning to sound like he desperately needs a job.
That should be “rising in the poll”. If you look at RealClearPolitics, the Fox News poll is the only one showing a Trump Bump and even that is only on a single poll.
@Tyrell:
Yeah, both those guys suck pretty hard. They’re wildly different, but both suck.
Everyone is missing the lede. This may the first instance where riding the Republican Presidential grifter train reduced one’s income potential.
Words actually do have consequences.
There’s no way in hell I’d ever vote for Trump. His history is a bit too liberal-friendly to me — he’s been a big Clinton donor in the past, for example.
That said,I hope he stays in the campaign for a good, long while. Because he’s doing God’s work in getting the left to totally humiliate themselves.
When he used a Neil Young song for his intro, Young loudly and crassly denounced him So Trump released an e-mail from Young where Young was trying to get money out of Trump.
When Univision went on the attack against Trump in some truly vile fashions, Trump shot back with a half-a-billion-dollar lawsuit that forced the network to issue some frantic ass-covering apologies and some furious spinning.
And now NBC has decided that Trump is too controversial for its entertainment division, reminding everyone that they have some truly interesting standards — because serial tax cheat and racial hustler Al Sharpton and serial fabricator Brian Williams are still gainfully employed by NBC’s news division.
So keep on running, Donald. Who will you next drive to kamikaze tactics?
I am not a Trump fan, but I did agree with his statements about a lot of the illegal immigrants from Mexico. It is a known fact that Mexico often empties out their crowded jails and sends them straight to the border.
Oh yes, like he made the president “humiliate” himself four years ago at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner…
Trump is supposedly now number 2 in polls in Iowa?
Ok–here’s my tin-foil hat on: Trump is running for POTUS to totally disrupt the Republican field, help vote his good friend Hillary Clinton into power, then will be appointed Ambassador to Russia so he can go visit Moscow and say “You’re fired!” to Putin, which is the biggest dream of his life.
/tinfoil-hat–>OFF
@Jenos Idanian #13: What a shock that idiot loser troll Jenos loves idiot loser troll Trump.