Lawrence O'Donnell Tears Into NBC For Keeping Donald Trump On The Air (VIDEO)

On his Thursday show, Lawrence O'Donnell tore into NBC--the company he works for--for promoting Donald Trump so heavily and for keeping him on the air.

It's at least the second time O'Donnell has taken his parent company to task for its relationship with Trump. On Thursday, he began by playing audio of Trump badmouthing him in a radio interview and saying he "gets no ratings."

"That's the closest i can get to getting Donald on the show, because, you see, getting Donald on your show requires a certain amount of sucking up to Donald and pretending he is some kind of adult who deserves to sit in an adult chair on your show," O'Donnell replied.

He then turned to NBC. Trump, he said, "desperately needs the income" from NBC, but the ratings for "Celebrity Apprentice" have been shaky enough that the show could be canceled. (This isn't exactly true--the series' ratings have dipped slightly in the past week, but are still doubling the average of the previous season.) This, O'Donnell said, could leave Trump with no excuse to back out of a presidential bid, "except the truth that he is an ignoramus about government and could not afford to pay for a presidential campaign."

O'Donnell brought on guest Jonathan Capeheart, and he continued bashing his parent network. He conceded that Trump could stay on the air because the ratings are "so terrible" on the network, and said that NBC was a "disgrace" for having promoted him so heavily.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy