Lawrence O'Donnell Tears Into NBC For Keeping Donald Trump On The Air (VIDEO)

On his Thursday show, Lawrence O'Donnell tore into NBC--the company he works for--for promoting Donald Trump so heavily and for keeping him on the air.

It's at least the second time O'Donnell has taken his parent company to task for its relationship with Trump. On Thursday, he began by playing audio of Trump badmouthing him in a radio interview and saying he "gets no ratings."

"That's the closest i can get to getting Donald on the show, because, you see, getting Donald on your show requires a certain amount of sucking up to Donald and pretending he is some kind of adult who deserves to sit in an adult chair on your show," O'Donnell replied.

He then turned to NBC. Trump, he said, "desperately needs the income" from NBC, but the ratings for "Celebrity Apprentice" have been shaky enough that the show could be canceled. (This isn't exactly true--the series' ratings have dipped slightly in the past week, but are still doubling the average of the previous season.) This, O'Donnell said, could leave Trump with no excuse to back out of a presidential bid, "except the truth that he is an ignoramus about government and could not afford to pay for a presidential campaign."

O'Donnell brought on guest Jonathan Capeheart, and he continued bashing his parent network. He conceded that Trump could stay on the air because the ratings are "so terrible" on the network, and said that NBC was a "disgrace" for having promoted him so heavily.

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Comments

[tacevad]

12:40 PM on 04/19/2011

if you are looking for nonstop Trump promotion, you need look no further than Morning Joe.

[tosc]

07:53 AM on 04/19/2011

Mr. ODonnell, I watch your show regularly, and I can understand your dismay with Mr. Trump, but you compromised your integrity and bought right in to the Trump Teaser.....just let it go...he carries no weight.

[ThoughtfulConservative]

07:58 PM on 04/18/2011

TRUMP DOES GOP DIRTY WORK
The residual fumes from the mid-terms fuel make a volatile mixture in the space where the Republicans need to ignite the 2012 campaign. Left with this combustible problem, it could be that the current candidates of the traditional GOP now need a lightning rod to take the charge out of the atmosphere.
Enter Trump. Not unlike an explosive charge used to snuff out a flame, Trump is defusing vapors from teaparty; furthermore, Trump is creating a malleable space where the GOP traditional candidates can reshape the political landscape.
The 2010 elections leave the GOP with a dilemma, namely, how can they make a play for the center of the electorate when the momentum of the previous election had carried them to the far right? It has left them in a gulf as wide as the gulf between sin and holiness, and Trump is the election propitiation.
One could imagine Trump eventually ending his fervent investigation of the birth-certificate with some obscure event whereby he can pronounce the birth legitimate. Trump would then have successfully neutralized some of the venomous anti-Obama sentiment and exited the race after having served such a "noble" deed.
The other GOP candidates could then run a fiscally conservative campaign without hitting the socially oriented issues, many of which seem to culminate around the ultimate legitimacy of Obama. Note that Romney, Pawlenty, and Cantor have officially denounced birthers recently & they couldn't have done it without Trump's buffoonery.

[MAD DOG DEM]

06:36 PM on 04/18/2011

Who in their right mind watches Trump's clown show?

[gregory57]

12:56 AM on 04/18/2011

How do you get an attention grubbing egotist to go away?

#IgnoreTheDonald

[FoundersFan]

07:42 PM on 04/17/2011

I certainly agree that NBC is a disgrace--they keep Lawrence O'Donnell and his dismal ratings on the air.

[PunKinPai]

12:46 PM on 04/18/2011

I'm surprised you've ever turned off Fox long enough to watch O'Donnell.

[pj-smith]

01:38 PM on 04/18/2011

agreed...ODonnell just gave that clown Trump more airtime...

[mangoaddict]

10:24 PM on 04/16/2011

How immature is this country. A clown and a bully is playing a game with the country to publicize an awful television show, and every news program, paper, and magazine just play along to up their ratings. In a time of great crisis, can't we find something more important to talk about? And we wonder why we have such a problem with bullying in our schools. The adults are doing such a great job as role models, aren't they?

[SOD]

11:49 PM on 04/16/2011

I don't wonder at all why we have a problem with bullying in schools.

I believe it's the result of liberal administrators insisting for the past decade or two that children not fight at all, even in cases of self defense.

[YOKEL13]

11:55 PM on 04/16/2011

Who is it that has recommended NOT defending oneself?

[fatback65]

12:27 PM on 04/17/2011

That is truely one of the most ridiculous and ignorant statements I have read in a long time. Be proud.

[givemtheirwish]

12:08 AM on 04/17/2011

"clown and a bully" - didn't realize we were discussing Boss Soros

[jaslyn]

05:38 PM on 04/17/2011

are you related to Donald?

[gregory57]

01:06 AM on 04/18/2011

Yeah, megalomaniac is a more accurate description.

[DreamWeaver2nd]

09:38 PM on 04/16/2011

Oh, yes! I agree with Lawrence. I'm glad to hear this from someone in the know. And to have him criticize this awful show-off. Even as he is criticizing his employer, NBC. I like that! Courage.

I don't think women like Trump. I think : ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. He has no class. His money came from daddy. Then he lost a lot of it. I think some men might look up to him -- if they wear blinders. Maybe not. The very wealthy don't give him the time of day. And not any top notch people in show business. I wish he would leave the stage. Our "celebrity" culture is getting worse and worser.

[SOD]

11:50 PM on 04/16/2011

One shouldn't bit the hand that feeds him.

[GiaMTL]

08:09 AM on 04/17/2011

Who is feeding who? Please elaborate?! Trump feeds nothing other than his ego.

[gingerlilyose]

09:05 PM on 04/16/2011

I think Lawrence O'Donnell is starting to grow on me even if i still miss Keith Olberman.

[LibertyRoy]

11:14 PM on 04/16/2011

He is just pretending to be KO. He is a poor version.

[sibyl9]

11:52 PM on 04/16/2011

Agreed. Smart guy, but not nearly as savvy and snarky.

[PARepublican]

08:56 AM on 04/17/2011

I think it is about time we start saying " Keith who".

[emlr]

12:36 PM on 04/18/2011

He'll never be Keith who!

[PunKinPai]

12:49 PM on 04/18/2011

We'll start saying that when you start saying "Sarah who."

[garrettspopcorn]

06:56 PM on 04/16/2011

O'Donnell- on point as usual !!

[quixoto]

06:53 PM on 04/16/2011

I gotta say, Trump is a terrible human being but I can't help being entertained by Celebrity Apprentice, especially when I get to read Tom Scharpling's hilarious write-ups afterward.

[mojorain]

09:45 PM on 04/16/2011

I don't watch the show and wouldn't vote for him for Dogcatcher.

[quixoto]

12:23 AM on 04/17/2011

You should read Tom Scharpling's summaries in New York Magazine. His take on the show is way funnier than the show ever had potential to be. You don't really even need to watch to follow what he's talking about, but it helps.

[gregory57]

01:07 AM on 04/18/2011

#IgnoreTheDonald

[phill273]

06:12 PM on 04/16/2011

I'd like to see him tear into his own company (MSNBC). Oh wait. He would get fired. He definitely wouldn't have said that if NBC and MSNBC weren't separate entities.

[ydrittmann]

07:11 PM on 04/17/2011

Wow. They are not that separate.

[la fourchette]

06:00 PM on 04/16/2011

Love, love, love this guy O'Donnell!

[EmmaLib]

05:54 PM on 04/16/2011

OOOOps, I thought 'Celebrity Apprentice' had to be a FAUX show, saw it once and thought it incredibly distasteful...... sad to see NBC lose the polish and class it once had, the things TV stations do to achieve ratings such as FAUX. I hope all stations do not lose their integrity in exchange for ratings such as FAUX.

[Andrew FingerlickingGree]

04:35 PM on 04/16/2011

Careful Larry!!

I find him so contemptible I can't even watch his celebrity apprentice show. So everyone knows Trump is a joke, why are we even talking about him?

[pj-smith]

01:41 PM on 04/18/2011

because larry always takes on the easy targets, that's why.