We Created a Monster: Trump Was a TV Fantasy Invented for 'The Apprentice'

[Foxfyre]

I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster.

For nearly 25 years, I led marketing at NBC and NBCUniversal. I led the team that marketed “The Apprentice,” the reality show that made Donald Trump a household name outside of New York City, where he was better known for overextending his empire and appearing in celebrity gossip columns.

To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was.

In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting. The imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.
...
Exaggerating ratings is one thing, but spreading falsehoods about relief work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, about immigrants eating cats and dogs, about the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, about him winning the 2020 election or countless other lies is far more dangerous.

Now America is facing a critical choice. Should this elderly, would-be emperor with no clothes, who is well known for stretching and abandoning the truth, be president again?

I spent 50 years successfully promoting television magic, making mountains out of molehills every day. But I say now to my fellow Americans, without any promotional exaggeration: If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like “The Apprentice” was. Even if you are a born-and-bred Republican, as I was, I strongly urge you to vote for Kamala Harris. The country will be better off and so will you.

~ John D. Miller was the chief marketing officer for NBC and NBCUniversal, and retired as chair of the NBCUniversal Marketing Council.

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2024-10-16/we-created-a-tv-illusion-for-the-apprentice-but-the-real-trump-threatens-america

---

Isn't it ironic that Trump and his MAGA supporters keep insisting that the liberal media are "out to get him," yet it was NBC that put him on America's map?

I’m originally from New York, where we grew up knowing a lot about Trump. He was often the butt of jokes—a guy who proudly emblazoned his name on buildings but was more famous for his bankruptcies. He even managed to run a casino into the ground! Suddenly, he was being touted as a "successful" businessman! What a bunch of horseshit.

And now, here we are. We elected a man who declared bankruptcy at least four times and then attempted to lead the country, only to fail miserably when a crisis hit. Yet, some people still haven’t learned; they continue to treat a fabricated TV persona as gospel and want to elect him again.

Insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results!

If he was an NBC marketing person, he knew the circumstances and details of those bankruptcies and would not be misrepresenting them as they are misrepresented here.

No one had to falsify Trump's business experience or his lifestyle for The Apprentice either as both were real. And Trump was well known, a media darling and A listed EVERYWHERE long before he agree to do The Apprentice. More disingenuousness on the part of the OP.

Trump has made his fortune building and running things including creating jobs for tens of thousands of employees as well as selling his very marketable name to various ventures. He made a lot of money doing the Apprentice but even adding on the millions he earned in addition to endorsements and licensing deals, it was not a huge contribution to his net worth.

They may be putting up a new way to smear him in the waning days of the campaign the this just won't hold up to scrutiny. Democrats trashing Trump have no shame, no ethics, no morals, no integrity, no principles.

 

[Rogue AI]

There was no Obama malaise. But your racism allowed you to refiuse to see that Obama saved this country. The trump message was and is racism.

Obama was a failure on all fronts. He was a divisive twit, he intentionally stoked racial animosity, failed at every foreign policy situation, got bitch slapped by Putin on the world stage, and played bitch to France and England all the while supporting terrorists in Libya. Obama's endless failures created a need for someone like Trump. Pretending it's otherwise is idiotic. None of those issues has anything to do with his race. Granted that's all you are capable of whining about.

 

[IM2]

Obama was a failure on all fronts. He was a divisive twit, he intentionally stoked racial animosity, failed at every foreign policy situation, got bitch slapped by Putin on the world stage, and played bitch to France and England all the while supporting terrorists in Libya. Obama's endless failures created a need for someone like Trump. Pretending it's otherwise is idiotic. None of those issues has anything to do with his race. Granted that's all you are capable of whining about.

Everything you say here is untrue. 77 months of job growth. That started a decade of economic growth which proves that what you say to be a bunch of racist malarkey. Obama, didn't stand in front of the world siding with Putin over his own intelligence. Trump did. That's what being bitch slapped is. Obama did not stoke racial animosity, scab whites like you mad because a black man was president did. Obama didn't support terrorists in Libya, the stuff there ws due to a UN resolution proposed by the UK, France and Lebanon, Obama didn't play bitch, America is not the worlds Army. White fear created trump and anytime some white scumbag says it's not about race, race is exactly what it is about.

 

[IM2]

If he was an NBC marketing person, he knew the circumstances and details of those bankruptcies and would not be misrepresenting them as they are misrepresented here.

No one had to falsify Trump's business experience or his lifestyle for The Apprentice either as both were real. And Trump was well known, a media darling and A listed EVERYWHERE long before he agree to do The Apprentice. More disingenuousness on the part of the OP.

Trump has made his fortune building and running things including creating jobs for tens of thousands of employees as well as selling his very marketable name to various ventures. He made a lot of money doing the Apprentice but even adding on the millions he earned in addition to endorsements and licensing deals, it was not a huge contribution to his net worth.

They may be putting up a new way to smear him in the waning days of the campaign the this just won't hold up to scrutiny. Democrats trashing Trump have no shame, no ethics, no morals, no integrity, no principles.

He didn't misrepresent anything. But you worshippers just can't see that trump is actually a scumbag unfit for the office.

 

[my2¢]

From what I read, it was the bankers who bought into Trump's fantasy world before there was ever an Apprentice. To get some return on their bad loans to Trump, the banks were willing to take pennies on the dollar. However, Trump being the extraordinaire salesman convinced them to buy into his grandiose persona scheme instead of taking him down. This enabling the bankers to diverse their Trump holdings on a more appealing basis than the alternative of holding a fire sale. A win-win for both Trump and the bankers. Have to hand it to him for turning a bad situation into an opportunity.

 

[SeaMajor7]

No tee vee network "created" Trump.
Trump EARNED his success.
He CREATED it.

 

[fncceo]

I helped create a monster...Donald Trump

Stop bragging.

 

[Magnus]

Stop bragging.

Learn to read.

 

[hadit]

There was no Obama malaise. But your racism allowed you to refiuse to see that Obama saved this country. The trump message was and is racism.

Yeah, how dare he incarcerate black men for non-violent drug offenses and keep them in prison after they were supposed to be released!

Oh, wait, that wasn't him. Never mind, that's different.

 

[Polishprince]

Everything you say here is untrue. 77 months of job growth. That started a decade of economic growth which proves that what you say to be a bunch of racist malarkey. Obama, didn't stand in front of the world siding with Putin over his own intelligence. Trump did. That's what being bitch slapped is. Obama did not stoke racial animosity, scab whites like you mad because a black man was president did. Obama didn't support terrorists in Libya, the stuff there ws due to a UN resolution proposed by the UK, France and Lebanon, Obama didn't play bitch, America is not the worlds Army. White fear created trump and anytime some white scumbag says it's not about race, race is exactly what it is about.

B. Hussein O instituted Obamacare, which has been identified as a form of slavery by Dr. Ben Carson, a descendant of slaves.

Remember the essence of slavery is people telling you what to do, even if you don't want to.

Is there really any difference between someone telling you to "pick that cotton" or someone telling you to "buy that insurance policy if you don't want to?

 

[Hollie]

I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster.

For nearly 25 years, I led marketing at NBC and NBCUniversal. I led the team that marketed “The Apprentice,” the reality show that made Donald Trump a household name outside of New York City, where he was better known for overextending his empire and appearing in celebrity gossip columns.

To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was.

In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting. The imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.
...
Exaggerating ratings is one thing, but spreading falsehoods about relief work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, about immigrants eating cats and dogs, about the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, about him winning the 2020 election or countless other lies is far more dangerous.

Now America is facing a critical choice. Should this elderly, would-be emperor with no clothes, who is well known for stretching and abandoning the truth, be president again?

I spent 50 years successfully promoting television magic, making mountains out of molehills every day. But I say now to my fellow Americans, without any promotional exaggeration: If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like “The Apprentice” was. Even if you are a born-and-bred Republican, as I was, I strongly urge you to vote for Kamala Harris. The country will be better off and so will you.

~ John D. Miller was the chief marketing officer for NBC and NBCUniversal, and retired as chair of the NBCUniversal Marketing Council.

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2024-10-16/we-created-a-tv-illusion-for-the-apprentice-but-the-real-trump-threatens-america

---

Isn't it ironic that Trump and his MAGA supporters keep insisting that the liberal media are "out to get him," yet it was NBC that put him on America's map?

I’m originally from New York, where we grew up knowing a lot about Trump. He was often the butt of jokes—a guy who proudly emblazoned his name on buildings but was more famous for his bankruptcies. He even managed to run a casino into the ground! Suddenly, he was being touted as a "successful" businessman! What a bunch of horseshit.

And now, here we are. We elected a man who declared bankruptcy at least four times and then attempted to lead the country, only to fail miserably when a crisis hit. Yet, some people still haven’t learned; they continue to treat a fabricated TV persona as gospel and want to elect him again.

Insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results!

That was quite a cavalcade of goofy conspiracy theories.

Learn to lose gracefully.