Donald Trump Is Taking All His Toys and Going Home

After Univision dumped his pageant in the wake of his anti-immigrant comments, the billionaire struck back.
(Photo: Steve Sands/Getty Images)
Jun 27, 2015· 1 MIN READ
Samantha Cowan is an associate editor for culture.

A lot of people don’t want to work with Donald Trump—and not just because he’s known for firing people on national television.

Responding to comments the business mogul made about Mexican immigrants when announcing his candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination for president, partners and performers are refusing to participate in the Miss USA pageant, owned by Trump and NBCUniversal.

Univision announced Thursday it would not simulcast the pageant on its Spanish language channel, UniMas. Trump sent a letter to the company’s CEO on Friday barring its employees from stepping onto his Miami golf course and country club, which are adjacent to Univision’s headquarters.

He also added a rather threatening P.S. to the typed letter.

“Please congratulate your Mexican Government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States. 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,” Trump wrote.

Those remarks are relatively tame compared with his previous comments.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said during his kickoff speech last week. “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.”

The comments incensed many of Trump’s peers, with both UniMas cohosts withdrawing from the simulcast as well as Colombian performer J. Balvin, whose performance would have aired on both UniMas and NBC.

NBC, however, is moving forward with its broadcast of the pageant on July 12. Still, Trump's longtime partner—it also airs his reality series Celebrity Apprentice—had to assert its dissenting views.

“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 said in statement issued late Thursday.

Trump has remained unapologetic and threatened to sue Univision from pulling out of the multimillion-dollar contract.

So, Why Should You Care? Trump leads all GOP candidates except Jeb Bush, according to a recent poll of New Hampshire Republicans. Though intially considered a long shot, he may have a legitimate chance of placing strongly in the first primary of the 2016 election, which would likely prolong his campaign. Regardless of your stance on immigration policies, a primary season with a candidate who makes inaccurate, racist comments about Latin Americans is unlikely to elevate the discourse, distracting from the real problems the U.S. faces and damaging relations with Latin American countries.