Brian Williams blames own network for Trump’s rise, says 'The Apprentice' was a preview

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MSNBC host Brian Williams shot inside the tent on Tuesday when he essentially blamed NBC’s “The Apprentice” for putting President Trump in a position to be elected.

“It has been said, around here before, that viewers of ‘The Apprentice’ got a preview of the dynamics surrounding what later became the Trump base. ‘The Apprentice,’ hosted by Donald Trump, aired for 14 seasons out of this very building,” Williams said from his studio at NBC’s New York City headquarters.

“‘The Apprentice’ deepened Trump’s understanding of the medium and its power,” Williams said. “It turns out 14 seasons of a television show might have been the pilot for the Trump presidency.”

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Donald Trump, host of the television series "The Celebrity Apprentice," mugs for photographers at the NBC 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. NBC on Monday, June 29, 2015. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Williams then explained that the hit NBC show gave Trump a boardroom, which he didn’t have since his family-run company lacked a board of directors and helped portray him as a powerful leader to millions of viewers on a weekly basis.

“It’s also where he was able to introduce his children to a national audience. We watched as he pushed the brand, the name Trump on everything from buildings to planes to helicopters, even if they were more apt to be leased than owned. His own physical profile became part of the brand,” Williams said. “Starting with the opening sequence of the show, his body as logo and then think about how he used that image when he was introduced at the 2016 Republican convention.”

Mediaite, which reported the segment, noted that Williams “seemed to blame his network’s parent company for making President Donald Trump’s political rise possible.”

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But NBC isn’t simply MSNBC’s parent company. It’s also where Williams anchored the “Nightly News” from 2004 until he was shown the door in 2015 after he was caught embellishing tales about his own experiences.

Williams’ decade-long stint at NBC News directly coincided with Trump’s time hosting "The Apprentice," which also debuted in 2004.

“The so-called coastal elites, including, let’s be honest, much of the mainstream media, people who are perhaps still coming to grips with Trump’s attraction, might have seen it early if they’d watched the show,” Williams said. “Turns out it was also a preview of his presidency. It’s doubtful Rod Blagojevich would be released from prison were he not on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ back in the day.”

Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on February 19, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Caitlin O'Hara/Getty Images)

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Williams’ monologue could also be seen as a subtle jab at CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who began his career at the Peacock Network and rose from researcher all the way to president and CEO of NBC Universal. Along the way, he was responsible for increasing Trump’s fame when he greenlighted “The Apprentice.”

Zucker and Trump have feuded since Trump’s foray into politics, with the president attacking the liberal network on a regular basis and accusing CNN of unfair coverage. Zucker has even loaded CNN’s lineup with anti-Trump opinion hosts who are direct competitors to Williams and his MSNBC colleagues as the liberal networks battle for ratings.