NBC, The Trump Conundrum, And Political Correctness

NBC lied.  They claim they "fired" Donald Trump because they objected to his comment about Illegal Mexican immigrants.  In the news conference announcing his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, Trump asserted:

When do we beat Mexico at the border? They are not our friend, believe me…The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems…When Mexico sends its people, they are not sending their best. They are not sending you. They are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs and they are bringing crime, and they’re rapists. Some, I assume are good people.

NBC's response earlier this week was, "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants," they said, "NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump."

Nice sounding rhetoric, In truth they ended their association with Trump because their liberal base was going crazy calling for the Donald's head.

For example there was the petition signed by over 200,000 people

"Please cancel Miss USA, Miss Universe and The Apprentice. You are supporting a hateful and narcissistic individual without any kind of values, both personal and business wise. Not only that, but you are supporting a growing trend of bigotry and division in this country. Mr. Trump does not need to apologize anymore, which he will not according to his remarks after being dumped by Univision. He needs to be shown that his behavior belongs in the past before the civil rights movement."

I have been criticized for calling The Donald a clown, the bloviating billionaire of birtherism, and someone who does not understand the verbal boundaries necessary to be a successful candidate for president, a candidate whose loose mouth may potentially hurt the party. My feelings about him have not changed in the past few days. But that doesn't mean NBC's action was the right decision to make.

The statement about illegal immigrants was vintage Trump.  The man says whatever is on his mind. Usually what he says is correct even though he says it in the most asshole way possible. The Apprentice host is totally right about the problem of porous U.S. boarders. At the same time the verbiage he used was totally obnoxious--> "They are bringing drugs and they are bringing crime, and they’re rapists. Some, I assume are good people." If Donald Trump had said, "most are good people but many are involved with drugs, rape and other crimes, there still would have been a controversy but nowhere near as big.

The last time I checked this is still America and in this country people shouldn't be fired for exercising their free speech. Heck if that was true Al Sharpton who led two anti-Semitic riots in NYC wouldn't be on NBC's payroll.

So NBC and Univision each dropped Miss USA and Miss Universe costing Trump a few million dollars---big deal that's like losing a five dollar bill for "normal people."  Of all the people affected by the NBC/Univision's action, Trump was hurt the least.  The contestants looking to use the televised pageant as a springboard were hurt, as well as the crew, tech staff, the people who worked at the promotion companies, and the sponsors...etc., etc., etc.

As far as the Apprentice/Celebrity Apprentice Trump had already "quit" the show.  NBC's deal wasn't with Trump anyway it was with Mark Burnett's production company. Everyone assumed that when the real estate mogul dropped out of the race he would return to the show....not now.

 I don't see anybody else taking Trump's role in the show. So what happens now if Trump drops out of the race.  Look for him to go to another producer/network to come up with the same exact show with a different name (How about You're Fired!?).  This scenario, losing a hit show and a possible competitive show only serves to hurt NBC's other employees and their stockholders.  Trump loses nothing--but again, others get hurt.

In the end what NBC did in "firing" Trump, was stupid (using the Trump vernacular). If they were trying to hurt "The Donald," it was unsuccessful. In fact taking on "the liberal media" probably increased his fame. The bottom line is it's legitimate to say Trump's lack of verbal control prevents one  from supporting his candidacy for the nomination. However it should in no way prevent him or anyone else from conducting business.

In this country we are supposed to have a market-driven economy. It is up to the consumer to decide whether or not to support programs associated with Trump. And based on his skill as a salesman and promoter, my guess is that nothing he has said would prevent people from watching a Trump program, or purchase a Trump-branded product. The big loser here is NBC Universal and Univision.