NBC exec apologizes for creating a ‘monster’ by embellishing Trump’s business success for ‘The Apprentice’
A former NBC exec has apologized to Americans for creating a “monster” in Donald Trump via the hit show “The Apprentice.”
“I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster,” that is how John D. Miller began his op-ed in US & News and World Report.
Miller spent 25 years running marketing for NBC and NBCUniversal and promoted the reality show that pushed Trump into superstardom. While Trump was a known figure thanks to his larger than life persona and real estate business that put him on TV sets in the 1980s and 90s, it was the show and the phrase “you’re fired” that made him a business icon.
Trump used the show, the fame and his business background as a key part of his push into politics that landed him in the White House.
Miller noted that in order to sell the show “we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty.”
He admitted the narrative was a substantial exaggeration that could have made Trump seem more successful than he was.
“Trump may have been the perfect choice to be the boss of this show, because more successful CEOs were too busy to get involved in reality TV and didn’t want to hire random game show winners onto their executive teams. Trump had no such concerns. He had plenty of time for filming, he loved the attention and it painted a positive picture of him that wasn’t true,” Miller wrote.
The marketing team used that image of a successful businessman to promote the show, and Miller said he never imagined it would be used to push Trump to the White House.
Trump was “remarkably thin-skinned” and would go after those who critiqued him, Miller noted. The former president also hated to be fact-checked, even back then, the exec stated. Trump would say they had the No. 1 show despite the data showing otherwise.
The executive also took a dig at Trump, saying that the infamous boardroom from the show was a set because Trump’s real one was “too old and shabby for TV.”
He implored those heading to the polls to vote for Harris and stated that the idea Trump was better for the country is a mirage – just like “The Apprentice” persona.
“While we were successful in marketing ‘The Apprentice,’ we also did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader. I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public,” Miller wrote.
