Huntinglegends.com; NBCNot all outdoorsy types are down with the Trump boys' hunting hobby.
Camping World, one of the show's sponsors this season, has vowed not to work with Celebrity Apprentice in the future following the release earlier this week of photos of Donald Trump Jr. and younger brother Eric posing with a dead elephant, a crocodile and other animals they killed while on safari in Zimbabwe last year.
But the RV-supply company, which has not advertised on NBC during the show but has spent money as an affiliated sponsor along with Good Sam Roadside Assistance and will be featured on an upcoming episode, says this isn't a judgment on hunting or people who hunt.
So, why is Camping World "not thrilled" with the Trumps?
"I was not happy with the pictures that I saw," company CEO Marcus Lemonis explained to E! News. "It has nothing to do with whether people hunt or not. There was a photo of a leopard—they’re endangered."
(Per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, leopards are considered "threatened" in Africa.)
"At the end of the day," Lemonis continued, "when you associate with someone, you have to deal with consequences that go along with them. Whether they hunt or not is irrelevant to me...I saw a leopard and an elephant [in the safari photos]. I wasn’t crazy about that. This isn’t anything personal against Donald Trump himself or the show. People are going to hunt. I know Trump himself is not an advocate of hunting. I just don’t agree with what happened. I have a right to choose who I am affiliated with. We won’t be a sponsor in the future."
Papa Trump appeared to be in his boys' court as late as yesterday, telling Extra, that Don Jr. and Eric are "expert hunters."
But he may have made for a chillier dinner table (if not a chillier pretaped boardroom) by tweeting this today in response to the new development: "I'm not a hunter and don't approve of killing animals. I strongly disagree with my sons who are hunters, but they acted legally and did what lots of hunters do."
When the photos made the rounds, Don Jr. denied leaking them himself for publicity purposes—but also said that he had nothing to apologize for, as the meat from his and Eric's various kills went to feeding an entire village.
"We are both avid outdoorsmen and were brought up hunting and fishing with our Grandfather who taught us that nothing should ever be taken for granted or wasted," the brothers said in a statement as Don Jr. went about defending himself to a ravenous pack of critics on Twitter.
—Reporting by Sharareh Drury