Donald Trump: ‘I’m Running For President,’ NBC: ‘You’re Fired’

Donald Trump announced recently that he was running for president, which has led to a number of political backlash, including the response from NBC: You’re fired. Following some particularly unpleasant comments that Trump made regarding immigration, Trump’s contract with the network has been officially terminated.

Did Trump deserve to be fired? The outrage began because his comments seemed to be directed towards Mexican immigrants who make up a large portion of the United States population. Here is what he told a CNN reporter.

“I like Mexico. I love the Mexican people. I do business with the Mexican people, but you have people coming through the border that are from all over. And they’re bad. They’re really bad…You have people coming in, and I’m not just saying Mexicans, I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists and they’re coming into this country.”

When you hear the actual statement, it doesn’t seem to be nearly as bad as the media has portrayed it. Trump doesn’t seem to be pinpointing the Hispanic population alone, but it looks like many people took it that way. His comments incited a petition for his immediate dismissal from the network, which gained more than 200,000 signatures. NBC had no choice but to tell him, “You’re fired.”

Trump has a response to the petition and claims of outrage against him.

“I am personally offended by the mainstream media’s attempt to distort my comments regarding Mexico and its great people. I have many successful business relationships with Mexican companies and employ, and am close friends with, many Mexican people. I also have tremendous respect for the leaders of Mexico, who, frankly, are much smarter and tougher than our politicians here in the United States.”

Though his bash on the leaders of the United States doesn’t do much for his credibility, it goes to show that maybe his statement wasn’t so bad as it first seemed. It seems that as soon as Donald Trump announced he was running for president, he was bound to receive some backlash, but who knew it would go this far?

Perhaps the bigger issue is that NBC no longer wants to be associated with the kind of political backlash that Trump will be bringing down on them. The network responded with a statement declaring that they do not agree with a number of his political views. They also acknowledged that a large portion of their viewing audience was Hispanic, and they have no desire to be affiliated with any disrespect to their viewers.

Trump has long been an integral part of NBC’s network, bringing us shows like Miss USA, Miss Universe, and The Apprentice. Now that Trump is gone, the two beauty pageants will be pulled from the network, and Trump will no longer appear on any of the network’s featured shows. Celebrity Apprentice will still continue without him, however.

It looks like Donald Trump, the man who recently announced he was running for president, will no longer have any associations with the network. Depending on the results of the campaign, this may not be a wise move. The real question is, was the decision to fire Donald Trump a benefit or detriment to the network?

[Image via Wavy.com]