Well, Trump was tweeting and calling into Fox News going back to 2012 or whatever, but I get your point... they probably didn't have an opinion of him one way or another because he really was only known for "The Apprentice", really. Maybe if they were a little more familiar with him they probably just figured he was some New York dandy.

Funny enough, I've been familiar with him going back to the early 2000s. I usually pointed to his show as to an example of why "business" is bullshit. Generally saw him as a despicable person and it has bought me a little bit of cred in my social circle when I talk about him being an awful human being, since they know I've been ripping on the guy for like 15 years.