Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he was “sad” that no black actors were nominated for an Academy Award, but noted that white people are not nominated for any Black Entertainment Television Awards.
“I think it’s a tough situation. I think it’s really sad,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends” when asked about the lack of black nominees.
He then mentioned Fox News contributor Stacey Dash’s earlier comments on the show, where she said, “If we don’t want segregation then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the [NAACP] Image Awards, where you are only awarded if you are black.”
“I saw someone on your show today saying, ‘Well, what do we do with BET, Black Entertainment?’ Right?” Trump asked on “Fox and Friends.” “The whites don’t get any nominations.”
“And I thought it was an amazing interview actually. I never even thought of it from that standpoint,” Trump continued.
The Republican presidential candidate added that “it would certainly be nice if everybody could be represented properly.”
Watch part of the interview via “Fox and Friends.”
“I think it’s a tough situation.” @realDonaldTrump on lack of diversity among Oscar nominations
https://t.co/0BrT0aLSPU
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) January 20, 2016
Trump also noted on Fox that in previous years, black actors have been nominated for the Oscars, according to The Hill.
“I’ve watched over the years where African-Americans have, in fact, received Academy Awards and have been very well represented,” he said. “This is not one of those years, but over the years I’ve seen numerous black actors and African-American actors receive Academy Awards and I think that’s great.”
