Donald Trump is not finished waging war against the Spanish language network Univision, his former partner in broadcasting the Miss Universe pageant.
Univision announced Thursday that it was canceling plans to telecast the beauty pageant which Trump co-owns the rights to along with NBC Universal (which is also msnbc.com’s parent company), due to the Republican 2016 presidential candidate’s “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants.” While announcing his candidacy last week, Trump sparked controversy by alleging that Mexico has sent “rapists’ across the border into the United States.
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In a letter to Univision’s CEO and president, Randy Falco, made public Friday, Trump declared that going forward “no Univision officer or representative” would be allowed to access his expansive Trump National Doral resort and golf course, which is currently adjacent to the network’s studio space in Miami. Trump has also threatened to sue Univision for breaking what he’s called an “iron-clad” 5-year $13.5 million contract with him.
Meanwhile, NBC said in a statement released on Thursday, “Donald Trump’s opinions do not represent those of NBC, and we do not agree with his positions on a number of issues, including his recent comments on immigration.” The network had once been home to Trump’s “Apprentice” reality TV show franchise, but he is currently no longer under contact with them.
During an interview Thursday with msnbc’s Jose Diaz-Balart, Trump stood by his incendiary remarks about immigrants and mocked the leadership at Univision for their decision to cut ties with him. “Univision called me and they apologized for what they’re doing because they felt so stupid and so guilty,” he said. “They called like little lambs.”
When asked if Latinos should feel slighted by his attacks on Mexican immigrants, Trump said: “I love Mexico. I love the Mexican people. But they are taking advantage of the stupidity, and the very stupid negotiators and politicians, that we have in the United States.” He also refused to walk back his assertion that “thousands” of terrorists may have illegally entered out country through the Latin nation. “You’re going to have terrorists coming through the southern border, there’s no doubt about it,” Trump said. Trump argued that he is surging in early GOP primary state polls because, unlike his rivals, he is willing to get tough on trade with America’s neighbors to the south. At the end of his letter to Falco, Trump sounded a similar note. “Please congratulate your Mexican Government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States,” he wrote. “However, inform them that should I become President, those days are over. We are bringing jobs back to the U.S. Also, a meaningful border will be immediately created, not the laughingstock that currently exists.”
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