Dr. Randal Pinkett
The
“Donald Trump” Interview
with
Kam Williams
Apprentice
Winner Explains His Opposition to Trump Candidacy
Dr. Pinkett has received numerous awards for business and technology excellence including the Information Technology Senior Management Forum’s Beacon Award, the National Society of Black Engineers’ Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the National Urban League’s Business Excellence Award. He has been featured on nationally televised programs such as The Today Show, Live with Kelly and Michael, Nightline and CNN. In 2009, he was named to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s official shortlist as a potential running mate for Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.
Dr. Pinkett is the author of Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business and No-Money Down CEO: How to Start Your Dream Business with Little or No Cash and co-author of Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness, which was named one of “The Best Books of 2010.” He holds five degrees including: a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University, where he competed as a high jumper, long jumper, and captain of the men’s track and field team; a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Oxford in England; and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering, MBA, and Ph.D. from MIT. Most notably, he was the first and only African-American to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers University and was the first, African-American winner of Donald Trump's reality television show, “The Apprentice.”.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Dr. Pinkett is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and attends First Baptist Church in Somerset, NJ, where he resides. He is happily married to his wife, Zahara, and they are the proud parents of their daughter and two sons. Dr. Pinkett firmly believes that “for those to whom much is given, much is expected,” so throughout his endeavors, he places great emphasis on his desire to give back to the community.
Recently, Dr. Pinkett and several other Apprentice alumni held a press conference to voice their opposition to Donald Trump's candidacy. Here, Randal explains why he feels Mr. Trump is unfit to be President.
Kam
Williams: Hi
Randal, thanks for the time. How you been, bro? .
Dr.
Randal Pinkett:
I've
been blessed, my brother, I've been blessed. How are you?
KW:
Great!
How's the family?
RP:
Everybody's
well, my friend. Thanks for asking. How're things on your end?
KW:
Very
well, and I have to thank you again for taking the time to mentor my
son and a few of his classmates when they were in college.
RP:
My
pleasure! My pleasure!
KW:
Let's
get down to business. Five years ago, Donald Trump pointed at his
picking you as the winner of The Apprentice as proof that "He's
the least racist person there is." What does it mean that you
are now saying he's unfit to be president?
RP:
I find
his use of me as his defense against allegations of racism as not
only absurd but as also misguided. Consider the history of our
relationship, particularly my finale on The Apprentice when I
expressed concerns then and, maybe my opinion now, that his decision
to ask me to share the title was either racially insensitive or just
straight racist. To display that behavior toward me, the only person
of color he'd ever hired on the show, and to then say I'm the
evidence that you're not racist means that your privilege has so
sufficiently blinded you that you don't see the insidiousness of what
you did then or of what you're saying now.
KW:
How do
you feel about his reaction to the six of you, calling you "failing
wannabes?"
RP:
[Laughs
heartily] His reaction was un-presidential, petulant and sophomoric.
KW:
What do
you think of the prominent black people in his corner, like Dr. Ben
Carson, Omarosa and his national spokesperson, Katrina Pierson. Have
you spoken to any of them?
RP:
No, I
haven't had direct contact with any of them, although I've known
Omarosa for years, and I would consider her a friend. I saw her on
MSNBC the day of our press conference, attempting to defend Donald.
As she suggested, sometimes members of the same family simply have to
agree to disagree, and we disagree as it relates to Donald. It is
certainly the case that Omarosa has her position and her agenda, and
she and Donald have developed a mutually-beneficial relationship in
terms of business and media exposure. That's her guy! She knows where
I stand. I've been very clear and very transparent that I see things
differently.
KW:
What
always bothered me the most about Donald Trump was how, during the
Central Park Jogger case, he took out full-page ads in all of the New
York daily newspapers calling for the return of the death penalty.
That helped create an atmosphere in which there was rush to justice
and five innocent teenagers were convicted of the crime. And when
they were finally exonerated years later, Trump never apologized or
offered any jobs or money to help them readjust to society.
RP:
I echo
your sentiments. Not everyone is familiar with, let alone intimately
familiar with the Central Park Five and the atmosphere that was
created around that entire case. I have made repeated references to
his behavior regarding the Central Park Five, to housing
discrimination cases that were brought against him, and to first-hand
reports I received during my year working there in terms of the lack
of diversity at the executive and decision-making levels within the
organization. There were even people who expressed their
dissatisfaction with how they had been treated during their tenure
within the Trump Organization. To people who keep wanting to dance
around the question of whether he's racist, sexist or xenophobic, let
me suggest that he has a pattern of this kind of behavior. and when
you have a pattern, you have to call a spade a spade. I agree that
Donald's behavior regarding the Central Park Five was deplorable.
Reprehensible! There's culpability on his hands in terms of the way
those young men were treated. And in accordance with his playbook, he
does not back down or apologize. Instead, he doubles down. and that,
to me, is one of the reasons why he's dangerous as a potential
president. That is not the behavior you want in a world leader.
KW:
What do
you think of his having spearheaded the Birther Movement, suggesting
that President Obama wasn't born in Hawaii?
RP:
There's
a common thread there which reflects a conscious or unconscious bias
that drives his behavior. He will aggressively, vehemently or
neglectfully go after a person of color, whether it's his apprentice,
guilty until proven innocent offenders, or the President of the
United States. He does not exhibit the same behavior with
non-minorities. To summarize,
I think
he's dangerous for the country. I think he's dangerous for the world.
KW:
Well,
thanks again for the interview, Randal.
RP:
Always
good to connect with you, Kam.
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