John D. Miller, former marketing head at NBC who retired after 40 years at the company in 2022, endorsed Kamala Harris and in an essay published Tuesday said, “I want to apologize to America” for the fame and renown Donald Trump acquired thanks to “The Apprentice.”
“I helped create a monster,” the former executive wrote for U.S. News & World Reports.
Miller explained that he “led the team” that promoted the reality competition, which turned Trump into “a household name outside of New York City, where he was better known for overextending his empire and appearing in celebrity gossip columns.”
The show, Miller continued, “created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty,” which was at best “a substantial exaggeration.” He then listed Trump’s well-documented history of business failures and exaggerations, and described the network’s inaccurate presentation as ‘fake news’ that we spread over America like a heavy snowstorm.”
In his years knowing Trump professionally, Miller said he came to see he was “manipulative, yet extraordinarily easy to manipulate,” “remarkably thin-skinned,” revenge-oriented and prone to lying. And Miller connected all of that to Trump’s authoritarian politics and attempt to overthrow the government based on lies about the 2020 election.
“While we were successful in marketing ‘The Apprentice,’ we also did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader. I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public,” Miller said.
The essay concluded with Miller’s endorsement of and plea for people to vote for Democratic candidate Harris.
