Donald Trump was ready to pit races against one another a decade before his incendiary presidential campaign.
Controversial rhetoric has become a signature in his bid for the White House, but back in the summer of 2005, Trump suggested pitting black contestants against white ones in the TV boardroom for a forthcoming season of “The Apprentice.”
The GOP front-runner, 69, explained to the audience of his short-lived syndicated radio show on July 11, 2005, that he “wasn’t particularly happy” with the recent season of his reality competition show and was considering “an idea that is fairly controversial — creating a team of successful African-Americans versus a team of successful whites.”
“Whether people like that idea or not, it is somewhat reflective of our very vicious world,” added the real estate mogul.
The premise — which Trump also mentioned a few months earlier on Howard Stern’s show, according to a 2005 Entertainment Weekly article — attracted a barrage of criticism for his suggestion of a televised racial rivalry, which may have led the native New Yorker to pull the plug on the project.
NBC eventually said “You’re fired” to The Donald after he made several derogatory statements about Mexican immigrants last summer.
Tara Dowdell, a black communications consultant who appeared on Season 3 of “The Apprentice,” recently told BuzzFeed News that she was “floored” when she first heard of Trump’s idea.
“Best-case scenario, it was a huge blind spot. Worst-case scenario, it showed [Trump’s] willingness to exploit race and be divisive — to do anything to promote himself. The presidency can’t be one crazy, ill-advised publicity stunt after another.”