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Seattle-based reality TV star calls Trump campaign ‘political publicity stunt’
Jun 6, 2016, 1:45 PM | Updated: 1:51 pm
Seattle-based Capt. Keith Colburn, from "The Deadliest Catch" says everyone is "guilty" of watching the Donald Trump "train wreck." (AP)
(AP)
Capt. Keith Colburn admits that his “colorful personality” has helped keep him on the reality TV show “Deadliest Catch” for 10 of its 12 seasons. He told the “Ron and Don Show” that he sees plenty of Donald Trump’s reality TV prowess at work on the campaign trail.
“I like to think of it as the biggest political publicity stunt of all time,” Capt. Keith said. “And it just keeps going and going and going, and it just keeps escalating.”
Related: ‘Deadliest Catch’ star Capt. Keith: ‘I’ve battled all kinds of demons’
Capt. Keith, who captains the F/V Wizard crab ship that is docked in Ballard, is not a Trump supporter but he said it’s no coincidence the billionaire businessman has become prime-time TV for news organizations.
“The press absolutely adores this guy because he is so outrageous that he is making TV and, you know what, none of us can not watch,” he said. “It’s the train wreck that we’ve just got to slow down to look at. We’re all guilty.”
Capt. Keith says there is a correlation between what is shown on reality TV shows like the “Deadliest Catch” and what Trump is going through while running for office.
“They edit 98 percent of what I do or say out of TV and I have no control over that. And you will never see the footage. And I am what they show me to be,” Capt. Keith said. “Donald Trump is in the same situation where when he goes into one of his rallies and he talks (about) say, Mexican(s) or African American(s) or he blurts out something like that. Well, the press is selectively editing and saying, ‘Here’s this quote,’ boom-boom-boom. They just keep hitting it, right?”
“But Donald Trump and his campaign managers have the luxury of saying, ‘Wait a second, here is the content of the entire talk,’” he said. “They’ve got the ammunition that’s live that they could use, but I don’t know that his team is doing a good enough job to say, ‘Hey, he’s actually got some real content here. He didn’t just screw up for the 27th time.’”
The captain said his biggest concerns about Trump as Commander in Chief are about how he would respond to high-risk situations with foreign diplomats.
“I think the biggest problem with Donald is that … he’s used to everybody working for him so he can just scream at them and berate them and say whatever he wants and gets away with it,” Capt. Keith said. “Now all of a sudden, he’s dealing with the American population.
“And yes, there’s a lot of people who love him,” he said. “And you know what — do we need change? Absolutely.”
Capt. Keith gave credit to the other candidates’ ideas for change in the country, such as Bernie Sanders. But it’s leadership that will really make a difference.
(Do we need) what Donald’s looking for? Maybe to a certain degree,” Capt. Keith said. “But at the end of the day, we need someone that can lead. We’re talking about the highest, most powerful position on the planet. We need someone stable, not somebody who is out there just looking to — I don’t know — boost his own ego.”
The new season of the Deadliest Catch airs every Tuesday on the Discovery Channel.
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