Former NBC Chief Marketing Officer John D. Miller apologized for creating “a monster” in former U.S. President Donald Trump on “The Apprentice,” and then urged people to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
In a column for U.S. News & World Report, the former NBC executive did admit to “aggressively” marketing “The Apprentice” and exaggerating Trump’s wealth and business acumen. He also apologized for spreading what he now sees as “fake news” regarding the former president, and urged his readers to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming 2024 election.
Weeks before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a meme (archived) circulated online attributing a quote to former NBC executive John D. Miller, in which he allegedly apologized for “creating a monster” in Donald Trump by marketing the former U.S. president as “a super-successful businessman” on the hit show “The Apprentice.”
The ex-chief marketing officer (CMO) allegedly said the network’s show “created the false narrative” Trump was an astute businessman, when in reality the Republican nominee “declared bankruptcy four times before the show, and twice more during it.”
“We did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader and catapulting him to the White House,” the meme’s text continued, before saying Miller urged people to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November. The meme read in full:
“THE APPRENTICE” MARKETER APOLOGIZES TO AMERICA FOR CREATING THE MYTH OF TRUMP AS “SUCCESSFUL”:
“I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster. At ‘The Apprentice,’ we created the FALSE narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman. In fact, Trump declared bankruptcy 4 times before the show, and twice more during it. We did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader and catapulting him to the White House. Now America is facing a critical choice. Should this elderly, would-be emperor with no clothes, who’s well known for stretching and abandoning the truth, be president again? The idea that Trump will good for the country is an illusion, much like ‘The Apprentice’ was. Even if you are a Republican, as I was, I strongly urge you to vote for Kamala Harris. The country will be better off and so will you.”
JOHN D. MILLER, Former chief marketing officer for NBC
One Facebook post where the meme was included had amassed more than 33,000 reactions and 22,000 shares as of this writing. It also appeared on X, and Snopes readers emailed to ask whether the quote was authentic.
In short, the text in the meme came from a real article written by Miller, however it was not reproduced verbatim in the social media posts. Nonetheless, the content and many sentences accurately reflected what he wrote, which is why he have rated this quote and claim as a correct attribution.
What Did Miller’s U.S. News Column Say?
The original text appeared on news outlet U.S. News & World Report’s website on Oct. 16, 2024. Miller’s byline was at the top of the article (archived).
The former CMO retired from NBC in May 2022 after 43 years at the network, during which the Trump-hosted reality show “The Apprentice” was on the air. The show ran from 2004 to 2017, though Trump only hosted it until 2015, when he was fired for making divisive comments about immigrants as he launched his 2016 presidential campaign.
In his column, Miller did explain how, in their efforts to promote the show, he and his team created an image of Trump that made him appear wealthier and more competent than he was in reality.
The first line, which also appeared in the meme, read: “I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster.”
(U.S. News & World Report)
The third paragraph read similarly to another sentence in the meme: “To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was.”
Miller’s column also said the former president “declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting,” as was stated in the meme.
Other details from the meme were also covered in the article, such as Miller saying his team “did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader,” and by doing so helped “catapult him to the White House.”
The last couple of paragraphs read similarly to the final sentences of the meme:
Now America is facing a critical choice. Should this elderly, would-be emperor with no clothes, who is well known for stretching and abandoning the truth, be president again?
I spent 50 years successfully promoting television magic, making mountains out of molehills every day. But I say now to my fellow Americans, without any promotional exaggeration: If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like “The Apprentice” was. Even if you are a born-and-bred Republican, as I was, I strongly urge you to vote for Kamala Harris. The country will be better off and so will you.
Elsewhere, Miller accused Trump of “[loving] the attention” he got from the show and that “it painted a positive picture of him that wasn’t true.”
The former NBC executive also said his team “promoted the show relentlessly” and that the “exaggerated” image of Trump they created was “in its own way … ‘fake news’ that we spread over America like a heavy snowstorm.”
Snopes has produced numerous articles about Trump in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. One example related to an unfounded claim the former president donated $25 million to hurricane relief after Helene and Milton. Another referenced a video showing the former “Apprentice” host asking a crowd if they preferred a black or white president.