Trump Blasts Media For Reporting Sterling ‘Girlfriend From Hell’ Remark

Donald Trump appears on the 'Fox & friends' television program in New York Monday, Sept. 16, 2013.
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Donald Trump went off on the media Monday for reporting that he called Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s personal assistant the “girlfriend from hell” and for suggesting that he defended the now-banned NBA owner.

Trump called into “Fox & Friends” last week to discuss an audio recording of Sterling telling V. Stiviano, who was identified as his girlfriend at the time, not to take pictures with black people or bring blacks to basketball games with her. Trump condemned Sterling’s remarks repeatedly, but also suggested the Clippers owner was “set up” by the “girlfriend from hell.”

Appearing Monday morning on the Fox News program, the real estate mogul slammed the media for running with his comments about Stiviano rather than his criticism of Sterling.

“I knocked the hell out of Donald Sterling for five minutes, said what a bad guy, said, you know, horrible things he said,” Trump said. “And then I said just in passing and by the way, the ‘girlfriend from hell,’ and everybody laughed. Which is obviously true — I mean this girlfriend is taping him, and with very bad intentions obviously. She’s bad news.”

Trump claimed that “nobody was tougher on Donald Sterling” than he was and lamented that “thousands” of articles twisted his comments to make it look like he defended the Clippers owner.

“What they did is they used the girlfriend statement, like I was defending him by blaming the girlfriend, which was so dishonest,” he said.

Trump added that he finds it “disgusting” how the press goes after him since he’s emerged as a conservative figure. He singled out the Huffington Post as “pathetic” and further suggested that libel laws be reinstated so that he could fight the more “egregious” statements he disputes.

“Reporters are really dishonest, especially political reporters,” Trump said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

h/t Mediaite

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: