At a breakfast fundraiser at Cipriani in Manhattan, Trump, according to an attendee, spoke about a fun inauguration brainstorming sesh he and Burnett had had the day before. From the New York Times:
The president-elect said he was paid a visit a day earlier by Mark Burnett, the executive producer of “The Apprentice,” the reality show that helped make the president-elect a household name. Mr. Trump told the crowd that Mr. Burnett proposed reinventing the inauguration with a helicopter taking off from New York City, according to an attendee.
Mr. Burnett, who is known for producing shows like “Survivor,” “The Voice” and “Shark Tank” as well, also told Mr. Trump that he should consider a parade up Fifth Avenue.
Burnett, who helped solidify incredibly damaging racist and sexist stereotypes through his work on The Apprentice, also produced Sarah Palin’s Alaska, which was essentially an upscale propaganda campaign. Last year, Burnett said he was reaching out to Vladimir Putin for a show with a similar premise, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “I want this to be a series of shows from the eyes of leaders of nations about their countries,” adding: “not through the lens of a news organization.”
This season on Very Bad Men Take Over the World’s Most Powerful Democracy, there will be helicopters! There will be parades! There will be fireworks! There will be more fireworks! There will be even more fireworks, the biggest fireworks, oh, my god, there will be so many fireworks, until—blam!—all that’s left is a fine layer of black dust!
