Real estate mogul Donald Trump says that NBC didn't fire him over his comments about immigration because he had already quit before announcing his candidacy for president.
"NBC and I had a great relationship for 12 years with 'The Apprentice,'" Trump told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network on Wednesday.
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"They were very very intent [on trying to keep the show] and very saddened when I decided to run for president, because I was extended for a substantial period of time, but I said, 'I'm sorry, I have to do this. I want to run. I want to make our country great again. I'm not going to do that by doing 'Celebrity Apprentice,'" he explained. "They were very upset about it."
NBCUniversal announced Monday that it is
ending its business relationship with Trump because of statements the presidential candidate made about illegal immigrants when he announced his White House bid in June, saying that Mexican immigrants are bringing crime and drugs.
Trump told Bartiromo that he was the one who cut ties with NBC so he could make his run for president.
"I told them I'm not doing it; they didn't tell me. I told them I'm not doing it because I'm going to run for president," he explained. "When you run for president or when you run for any political office, you can't do a television show."
Trump said that NBC not deciding to do "The Apprentice" any more is "fair game" because he had already said he's not going to do it, but he said that NBC deciding not to cover the upcoming Miss USA pageant is wrong.
"They really dropped these women like hot potatoes, it was terrible what they did with that," he said.
"There are 51 beautiful, wonderful women down in Louisiana right now, and they got there a few days ago, and this was canceled without any thought to these women," Trump told Fox Business Network. "Some of these women work their whole life to get into this position, so they can become Miss USA."
"I told them, 'What about the women that are arriving right now?' And they said, 'We don't care,'" he said.
"These are cold-hearted people," Trump added.
The billionaire businessman has already filed a lawsuit against Univision for dropping the Miss Universe pageant, which he says they had no right to do.
"Univision is very interesting because we had a contract that we signed in January, a very lengthy contract — it has no termination rights," he explained.
"They haven't even sent us a letter. They just said that 'He can't do that.' It doesn't work that way. I brought a very big suit, and I think we'll be victorious with the suit," he added.
When asked whether or not he plans to sue NBC, Trump told the Fox Business Network that "NBC will be next to come. We're looking at it very seriously."
The real estate mogul and reality TV star also went after NBC over its cable news channel MSNBC, which he says has "a slightly liberal tent."
"They own MSNBC, which is a total disaster, it's a ratings disaster. They're very liberal. They hate Trump," he said.
"They're sleepy eyes Chuck Todd, their man on 'Meet the Press,' who's a total catastrophe. He's at 'Meet the Press,' and 'Meet the Press' is doing very badly," he added.
Despite the problems that Trump has faced from Univision and NBC over his comments on immigration, the billionaire businessman said he will not apologize for anything he said.
"I don't apologize. Everybody knows what's going on," he explained. "You have illegal immigrants pouring in through the country . . . . The crime is rampant."
"You have the illegals literally pouring in, not from Mexico only, they're coming from all over the world. They're coming from all over South America, but they're also coming from the Middle East," the presidential hopeful said.
"They're pouring into the border, and we do nothing about it, and I'm saying 'Make the border strong,' and we will make the border strong, if I win," he added. "You don't have a country unless you have a border."