NBC said Monday that it is ending its business relationship with mogul and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump because of comments he made about immigrants during the announcement of his campaign.
NBC said it would no longer air the annual ‘‘Miss USA’’ and ‘‘Miss Universe’’ pageants, which had been a joint venture between the company and Trump. Trump has said he is no longer appearing in the television show ‘‘The Apprentice.’’ NBC said ‘‘Celebrity Apprentice’’ will continue to go on without him.
Last week, Univision said that it was canceling its coverage of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. Trump had portrayed some immigrants from Mexico as bringing drugs and crime to the country in his presidential kickoff speech.
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Below, read excerpts of Trump’s comments on immigrants and watch the speech.
TRUMP: When did we beat Japan at anything? They send their cars over by the millions, and what do we do? When was the last time you saw a Chevrolet in Tokyo? It doesn’t exist, folks. They beat us all the time.
When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically.
The US has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. 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.
But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people.
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It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it’s coming probably — probably — from the Middle East. But we don’t know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don’t know what’s happening. And it’s got to stop and it’s got to stop fast.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.