Trump's Miss USA rescued by Reelz

After a tumultuous week, Donald Trump's floundering Miss USA pageant has found a new home.

Dropped first by Univision and then NBC, the pageant has faced major blowback since Trump's inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants, made during his presidential candidacy announcement on June 16.

In that speech, Trump said people coming into the United States from Mexico "are bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

In a statement Thursday, Reelz CEO Stan E. Hubbard said the cable and satellite channel acquired the rights because of a belief that the pageant and the women who compete in it "are an integral part of American tradition."

"As one of only a few independent networks, we decided to exercise our own voice and committed ourselves to bringing this pageant to American viewers everywhere," Hubbard said.

While Reelz, which reaches 70 million homes, said it considered the interests of Miss USA contestants, the host city of Baton Rouge, La., and viewers in making its decision, it made no mention of Trump or the hot water he's found himself in since he announced in June that he was joining the growing field of Republican presidential candidates.

Reelz has been in the rescue business before: In 2011 the network scooped up The Kennedys after The History Channel dumped the mini-series in response to the Kennedy family's objections.

Meanwhile, Trump kept busy blasting all those who have dared to cut ties with him. On Wednesday he accused Macy's, which ended its retail relationship with him the same day, of racial profiling. Then Trump tweeted a letter from NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt, who thanked the real estate magnate profusely for his "generosity" during a recent stay at Trump's property in Las Vegas.

Along with canceling Miss USA, NBC made the decision to fire Trump from his reality show, The Apprentice, this week.

The pageant will air on Reelz July 12, its original NBC airdate. Organizers have much to do: Almost all of Miss USA's co-hosts and judges defected en masse this week as the Trump fallout hit a crescendo.

Contributing: The Associated Press