NBC has cut longstanding ties with Donald Trump following the presidential hopeful’s controversial comments about immigration.
NBC will no longer be the home of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which Trump produces, and Trump has already stepped down from running his reality show The Apprentice to run for president. “At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values,” the network said in a statement. “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.”
During his presidential announcement speech earlier this month, Trump called the U.S. “a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems” while speaking about immigration. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he said. “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.”
In a statement provided to TIME on Monday, Trump stood by his comments and called NBC “weak” for “trying to be politically correct.”
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“If NBC is so weak and so foolish to not understand the serious illegal immigration problem in the United States, coupled with the horrendous and unfair trade deals we are making with Mexico, then their contract violating closure of Miss Universe/Miss USA will be determined in court,” he said. “Furthermore, they will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won’t stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be.”
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