Politics

NBC Exec Credits ‘The Apprentice’ For Trump’s Rise

Steve Pope/Getty Images

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
Font Size:

NBC Executive Paul Telegdy believes Donald Trump would not have become the Republican presidential candidate if not for his show “The Apprentice” and the “persona” it created.

The TV president of reality and late night programming said that it was Trump’s exposure on the hit show that has lead to him being one step away from the White House, according to Variety.

“Of course not,” Telegdy told a roomful of reporters at the Hollywood Radio and Television Society lunch when asked if Trump wouldn’t have gotten as far as he has without the show. Adding that NBC staffers who worked on the show say they are surprised at how far he has gone.

“We’re so wrapped up in what’s been going on the last few months, as you can imagine,” Telegdy said. “It’s all very, very peculiar. The guy is walking around getting a load of votes.”

“What’s going on demonstrates, if nothing else, the enormous amount of responsibility that goes with the job of putting out the version of someone that we do in a TV show,” he added. “The Apprentice” was a “master” that “created a phenomenon television personality.”

“I think his persona seems to be in lockstep with his persona on the show,” he continued. “I don’t think where Donald is in this campaign is any surprise to anyone who was close to him.”