Yikes! Donald Trump once proposed the idea of segregating white and black contestants for a “controversial” season of The Apprentice, according to a newly resurfaced, decade-old radio show.
In July 2005, the businessman, now 69, stated during his short-lived syndicated radio show, Trumped!, that he wanted to divide the NBC series’ teams by race.
Trump, who is now the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee, noted that he 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.”
He added, “But needless to say, not everybody thinks it’s a good idea.”
The proposal never became a reality as Trump was slammed by critics for his appalling 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,” Tara Dowdell, a communications consultant who competed on season 3 of The Apprentice, told BuzzFeed on Thursday, May 19. “The presidency can’t be one crazy, ill-advised publicity stunt after another.”
She added, “He has the audacity to say he’s a uniter when he proposed Apprentice: The Race War?”