Speculation has swirled over whether a tape exists of President Donald Trump uttering the N-word, but at least two “Apprentice” insiders doubt it.
Speaking to The New Yorker in an in-depth look at the NBC show on which the commander in chief became a reality TV star, Jonathan Braun, who served as its supervising editor for seasons one through six, argued footage of the racial slur would have spread.
“I didn’t watch every frame, but in everything I saw I didn’t hear him saying anything so horrible,” he said of Trump.
While The New Yorker noted that editors often use gag reels of the cast as a means of personal entertainment, they “may be barred, legally, from airing such outtakes, but that doesn’t stop editors from sharing them internally.”
That being said, Braun, who is no fan of the president’s, told the outlet the clip would have already made the rounds.
“If there was a tape, it would have spread like wildfire,” he said.
The New Yorker was told by another staffer that although he doesn’t “know a single person who worked on the show who voted for Trump,” the tape wouldn’t have stayed hidden.
“If somebody had the goods, it would have leaked long ago,” the staffer said. “There were no Trump fans on the set.”
Earlier this year, actor and comedian Tom Arnold alleged that the tape existed, backing a claim made by former “Apprentice” contestant turned White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman. She was fired in December 2017 long before her public feud with the president began.
Arnold, who has now concluded his Viceland show, “The Hunt for the Trump Tapes,” has contended that former “Apprentice” producer Mark Burnett is concealing a stash of outtakes from Trump containing sexist and racist comments.
Trump has maintained that claims of an N-word tape are false.