In 2005, Donald Trump proposed a season of "The Apprentice" that would pit an all-black team against an all-white team.
His proposal was immediately rejected by NBC executives, according to The New York Times.
Trump has come under scrutiny over a series of tweets this week in which he suggested that a group of "'Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen" should "go back" to their "corrupt" and "broken and crime infested" countries.
In 2005, Donald Trump had an idea to boost ratings for The Apprentice, a US TV show that he hosted at the time. He suggested putting an all-white team against an all-black team, believing that it would become the highest-rated show on television if the network did so.
He floated the idea on Howard Stern's radio show in April 2005, according to The New York Times.
"Do you like it?" Trump asked Stern. To which he replied: "Yes."
Trump then asked Stern's African-American co-host, Robin Quivers, the same question. "Well," she said, "I think you're going to have a riot."
But Trump wasn't too concerned about the potential ramifications of the show. "I think that it would be handled very beautifully by me. Because, as you know, I'm very diplomatic," he told Stern, adding that while there would be a mix of light-skinned and dark-skinned black contestants, the white team would be strictly blonds.
The show never came to fruition as NBC executives immediately rejected his proposal, The Times wrote. A spokesperson for NBC did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on this.
The Times used this example in a recent piece that discussed whether Trump has used the racial divisions in the US for his personal gain.
"Over decades in business, entertainment and now politics, Mr. Trump has approached America's racial, ethnic, and religious divisions opportunistically, not as the nation's wounds to be healed but as openings to achieve his goals, whether they be ratings, fame, money or power, without regard for adverse consequences," The Times wrote on Saturday.
The story was likely prompted by Trump's tweets earlier in the week in which he suggested that a group of "'Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen" should "go back" to their "corrupt" and "broken and crime infested" countries.
He said these congresswomen were "loudly [...] and viciously telling the people of the United States [...] how our government is to be run." Three of the four he appeared to be referencing were born in the US.
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