Two weeks ago, business magnate and media personality Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy, and in the process offended and alienated millions of people around the nation. Trump’s announcement was highlighted by many inflammatory comments, but none more so than his characterization of Mexican immigrants in regards to American border control, where he stated –
“The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. … When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. 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.â€
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At the time, the statement ignited massive public outrage (sparking one change.org petition that garnered over 200,000 signatures), and a predictably overwhelming negative media response that included Spanish language television network Univision deciding not to air the Miss Universe pageant, which is co-owned by Trump and NBC Universal. When given the chance to explain his comments further, Trump conceded to CNN that,
“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,” he said. “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.â€Inevitably, more and more partners of Trump’s began to distance themselves from the candidate and his remarks. Following Univision, yesterday NBC Universal announced that they too were cutting ties with Trump, saying in a statement,
“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.â€
Trump has already threatened to sue Univision, and in addition to releasing a statement via social media in response to NBC, has made indications that he will also seek to sue the network NBC.
The latest company to speak out against Trump’s remarks is Televisa, the world’s largest Spanish-language media company. In a statement also released on Monday, Televisa said, “Mr. Trump hasn’t demonstrated understanding or respect towards Mexican migrants and has offended the entire Mexican populationâ€, concluding that it was “unacceptable†to have any commercial ties with Miss Universe or any other Trump-related companies.
A photo posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Jun 29, 2015 at 1:14pm PDT