With Donald Trump inching closer to the White House, contestants from his show “The Apprentice” are choosing sides.
A media-savvy group of six former contestants are holding a press conference on Friday to tell Trump “you’re fired!”
Season 4 winner Randal Pinkett, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s campaign since last summer, is one of the speakers.
“We acknowledge Donald’s success as a businessman, and genuinely appreciate the opportunity ‘The Apprentice’ afforded all of us,” he said in a press release. “We, however, strongly condemn Donald’s campaign of sexism, xenophobia, racism, violence and hate.”
Other stars from the reality TV show, like Omarosa Manigault, have been more supportive of the businessman’s candidacy.
Trump hosted “The Apprentice” and its celebrity spin-off edition from 2004 through early 2015. Nowadays, on the campaign trail, he is fond of citing his experience on the show and its success in the ratings.
He sometimes reprises his tag line — “you’re fired” — to great effect at rallies.
The television hosting skills that Trump honed through “The Apprentice” have also come in handy during the campaign.
But perhaps there’s a downside to his decade plus on the NBC show — the former contestants who detest him.
Along with Pinkett, the other expected attendees at Friday’s press event are Kevin Allen, Tara Dowdell, Marshawn Evans Daniels, James Sun and Kwame Jackson.
Trump is “stoking the flames of our worst demons,” Jackson, the season one runner-up, said in a statement ahead of Friday’s event.
Season one winner Piers Morgan, on the other hand, has been a welcome friend to Trump.
While Morgan has occasionally critiqued Trump’s controversial positions, but he has also defended Trump many times.
This week he tweeted that “lots of people” are writing off Trump, but “I still believe he’ll win GOP nomination & the general election.”