Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump—who boasted that “I’m really rich” during his stream-of-consciousness announcement speech in which he also insulted Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers—is going to be a little less rich because of his foul mouth.
The NBC television network declared on Monday that because of the candidate’s toxic comments on June 16 and beyond, it will no longer broadcast the Trump-owned Miss Universe and Miss USA beauty pageants, which it had done since 2003, and the real estate mogul/reality star will no longer appear on The Celebrity Apprentice, in which Trump has worked as the hired help with zero ownership stake.
Trump, who claimed in a supposed financial statement that he’s worth more than $8 billion from commercial and residential real estate, golf courses and other assets, was reportedly paid $3 million per episode to tell hapless celebrity has-beens “You’re fired!”
The aspiring future White House occupant voluntarily gave up that gig to focus on moving into the new crib.
At the same time that NBC was releasing its public pink slip shortly before noon, the thatch-roofed tycoon was preparing to give a luncheon speech at the City Club of Chicago and thus didn’t deliver one of his hair-trigger blasts on his extremely active, self-celebratory Twitter account.
He later put out a statement on Instagram in which he threatened litigation and taunted the network about disgraced former Nightly News anchor Brian Williams.
“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 declared. “Furthermore, they will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won’t stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be.”
The Peacock Network’s statement reads in full:
“At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values.
“Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBC 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.
“In addition, as Mr. Trump has already indicated, he will not be participating in “The Celebrity Apprentice” on NBC.
“‘Celebrity Apprentice’ is licensed from Mark Burnett’s United Artists Media Group and that relationship will continue.”
Apparently the brass at NBC Universal started trying to figure out a way to extricate themselves from doing business with Trump as soon as he and his third wife, Slovenian-born former model Melania Trump, rode the down escalator and he made his inflammatory announcement speech at Trump Tower.
There, before an audience that included actors paid $50 each to clap and cheer, he declared the American dream “dead,” derided his rivals as “idiots” and “losers,” and let fly with this nugget about our neighbors to the south: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
The NBC suits initially released a statement saying that it disagreed with their employee and business partner, and the Latino-oriented network Univision announced that it is dropping plans to carry the Miss USA pageant on July 12 and will not work “on any other projects tied to the Trump Organization”—prompting Trump to ban its executives from the Trump National Doral golf club in Miami, which happens to be next door to Univision headquarters.
In an apparent test model of his big plans for Mexico, Trump has announced that he’s erecting a wall separating his golf course from the television network.
Trump has also threatened a lawsuit against Univision and claimed that the network breached its Miss USA contract because of pressure from the Mexican government.
But Univision explained that its decision was “based on his recent, insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants. At Univision we see first-hand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country.”
