This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I've written about Donald Trump off and on for a dozen years — since the premiere of "The Apprentice" — and not favorably, for the most part.
What Trump said and did and what I wrote about it weren't particularly important for most of that time. Yes, he has always been bloviating egomaniac who, on multiple occasions, sat in front of a room full of television critics and lied about his show and its ratings … but, hey, it was just TV.
No, it doesn't matter that he has repeatedly lied to a room full of TV critics. But if he can do that so blatantly in an effort at self-aggrandizement, it's clearly an indication of his character.
All that has changed to something far less amusing. Remember, Trump championed the discredited "birther" movement that claimed that President Obama was not a U.S. citizen. And, on the night of the 2012 general election, Trump took to Twitter and proclaimed, "We should have a revolution in this country!" and "We should march on Washington and stop this travesty."
Yes, Trump called for the violent overthrow of the government.
I called on NBC to dump him then. I supported NBC when it finally broke with him after his "drugs," "crime" and "rapists" comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico. I criticized NBC when it allowed him to host "Saturday Night Live."
These days, you can hardly turn on a TV without seeing Trump. It's become almost a daily event — the GOP presidential candidate says something outrageous, and TV is all over it.
I generally make it a practice to avoid writing about politics. But Trump is arguably the biggest personality on TV today. In light of recent events, I feel compelled to write about this candidate — although I would argue that this is not a Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal issue.
Proposing that Muslims be barred from entering the United States is, yes, un-American. Trump has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats. Hey, he's been blasted by Fox News.
He has tried to justify his proposal by insisting it is "no different" from interning Japanese-Americans during World War II, as authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
And he's right. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation that apologized on behalf of the U.S. government; admitted the internments were the result of racism; and authorized the payment of reparation. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush issued a formal apology for the "great injustice"; in 1992 he signed follow-up legislation providing more funds for reparations. (More than $1.6 billion was paid to former internees and their heirs.)
Trump used a policy that was clearly racist — that has been officially declared racist — to justify his anti-Muslim proposal.
There used to be a certain entertainment value in watching Trump on "The Apprentice." But his current TV tour is repulsive and dangerous.
It's time to cancel this Donald Trump show.
Scott D. Pierce covers television for The Salt Lake Tribune . Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.